A CONSORTIUM fronted by former Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman is working with Rothschild & Co on a bid to bring Formula One racing back to South Africa, Bloomberg has reported.
Froneman, mining executive Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan and Webber Wentzel’s Robert Appelbaum are planning a R6.7bn motorsport complex in the Swartland region north of Cape Town, businessman Bob Hartslief, a consortium member, told the newswire. The Blue Mountain Racing Grand Prix group is finalising the venture’s business and financing structure, he said.
It is the second South African bid for a returning grand prix. Porsche South Africa boss Toby Venter, who owns the Kyalami circuit in Johannesburg, wants to lease the venue — which hosted F1 races intermittently between 1967 and 1993 – to a winning bidder, and said last year he was upgrading it to meet FIA accreditation standards.
The Cape Town proposal includes an F1-compliant circuit costing about R2bn, alongside conference and exhibition space, hospitality facilities and residential development, with capacity for 125,000 spectators.
Rothschild is advising the group as it seeks Formula One’s sign-off, courts corporate sponsors and works to meet government conditions that the race avoid public funding, Hartslief said.
Backing is being lined up from major African companies to support a sponsorship model underpinning the licence fee. The group has submitted its response to F1’s initial requirements, with an evaluation process expected to take 12 to 15 months.
Formula One’s valuation has climbed past $23bn, up from the $4.4bn Liberty Media paid in 2017, aided by Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
