{"id":2000130407,"date":"2026-10-26T12:07:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000130407"},"modified":"2026-10-26T12:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:16:19","slug":"max-verstappen-defends-rwanda-against-criticism-over-formula-1-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/max-verstappen-defends-rwanda-against-criticism-over-formula-1-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen defends Rwanda against criticism over Formula 1 race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Dutch driver, who races for Red Bull Racing, made the remarks when asked about political debates and human rights allegations raised by critics of the decision to bring Formula 1 to Rwanda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could say all that about a lot of countries,\u201d said the Red Bull driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He indicated that he did not want to get deeply involved in the political debate surrounding the project, preferring to focus on the sporting aspects of Formula 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His comments came after Helmut Marko, a senior Red Bull figure, also expressed support for plans to bring Formula 1 to Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marko argued that the Formula 1 World Championship should reach all parts of the world and that critics of Rwanda should also consider the circumstances in other countries that regularly host races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked whether he expected to still be competing in Formula 1 when the Rwandan Grand Prix begins in the early 2030s, Verstappen said it would depend on the circumstances at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see then. I\u2019ve been there before, so yeah, fine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verstappen visited Rwanda in December 2024 to take part in activities promoting young talent in motorsport in Kigali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit was part of the community service penalty imposed on him by the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), motorsport’s governing body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has also supported efforts to bring Formula 1 back to Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda is expected to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix from the early 2030s under the 10-year agreement announced on Tuesday. The race will mark Formula 1\u2019s return to Africa after more than three decades. The championship last held an African race at the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed circuit will be built in Bugesera District, around 40 kilometres south of Kigali and near the new Kigali International Airport. It is being designed to meet FIA Grade 1 requirements for Formula 1 racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Max Verstappen, a four-time Formula 1 world champion, has defended Rwanda against criticism over plans to host a Formula 1 race.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has defended Rwanda against criticism over its plans to host a Formula 1 race, arguing that other countries hosting the championship also face challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000130408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"archived_slugs":[],"footnotes":"","igh_game_id":0},"categories":[41],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000130407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-40","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8,"twitter_handle":""}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8,"twitter_handle":""}],"featured_image":{"id":2000130408,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/skysports-max-verstappen-red-bull_7384210.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Max Verstappen, a four-time Formula 1 world champion, has defended Rwanda against criticism over plans to host a Formula 1 race.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/skysports-max-verstappen-red-bull_7384210.jpg","width":1600,"height":900},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/skysports-max-verstappen-red-bull_7384210.jpg","width":1600,"height":900},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/skysports-max-verstappen-red-bull_7384210.jpg","width":1600,"height":900},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/skysports-max-verstappen-red-bull_7384210.jpg","width":1600,"height":900},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/skysports-max-verstappen-red-bull_7384210.jpg","width":1600,"height":900}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000130407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000130407"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000130407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000130410,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000130407\/revisions\/2000130410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000130408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000130407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000130407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000130407"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000130407"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000130407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}