The history of the South African Grand Prix it may be in some way linked to the current drama of the war in Ukraine, in which sport is now trying to send a strong message of peace by taking positions distant from those who have been responsible, at a political and military level, for this destruction of international importance. Although the reasons for the two events are completely different from each other, the wish of the whole world – and of the sports universe – is that conditions similar to those that occurred on the circuit of Kyalami in 1992, where the much desired peace and peaceful coexistence between peoples automatically opened the doors to the return of motorsport, and more.
To better understand what happened in Formula 1 on March 1, 1992it is necessary to specify the long critical period that involved various African nations in the second half of the 20th century, including South Africa itself: in those years, in fact, the government of white ethnicity emulated numerous laws aimed at racial segregation within the country, giving rise to a political-social phenomenon better known as Apartheid. Although several sports organizations decided to exclude South Africa from different competitions a few years after the implementation of these rules, Formula 1 implemented a real boycott starting since 1986. Before that, the South African GP had taken place regularly since 1962, albeit with some interruptions, on the East London circuits and on the more historic one of Kyalami. However, under pressure from many European and American governments, all the teams participating in the 1986 world championship made the final decision not to show up in South Africa for the race weekend. This choice remained unchanged up to and including 1991the year in which – at the same time as Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990, who remained in prison for 27 years for his fight against racial discrimination – Apartheid was abolished.
Thanks to this huge step forward in the name of freedom, Formula 1 therefore immediately returned to reconsider South Africa, so much so that it was readmitted to the calendar from the 1992 season. Once again, the Kyalami track was confirmed as the seat of the first round of the world championship, even if on a track with a shorter layout than that traditionally used by the Circus. If we talk about 1992, F1 enthusiasts immediately connect that year to the absolute domination of the Williams-Renault from active suspensions and Nigel Mansell, with the latter immediately demonstrating its technical superiority of the English single-seater. The Briton, author of the pole position and the fastest lap in the race, he won also the GP on March 1 of that year, with Williams completing its overall success with the shotgunmade possible thanks to the 2nd place of Riccardo Patrese. Nothing to do for Ayrton Senna and for Michael Schumacher, respectively al 3rd and 4th place, and even more so for the two Ferraris of Jean Alesi and Ivan Capelli, the latter making his official debut with the Red. The two F92As, with the latter model going down in history for being one of the least performing ever of the ePrancing Horse, they did not even see the finish line, thanks to retirements due to technical problems. At the same time, the race saw the absolute debut of Mugen-Honda enginesin that case mounted on the Footworks of Aguri Suzuki and the late Michele Alboreto.
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