Overtake Nation: The Growing Fan Community Hoping to Bring Formula 1 Back to Egypt

With long-term contracts sealed at most venues, there’s not a lot of wiggle room for organisers – especially as the most iconic venues are essentially necessary.

Even so, that doesn’t stop fan groups and campaigners from trying to coax F1 to their shores. One such group is Overtake Nation, an Egyptian community that’s growing a devout following for the sport. Their aim, besides hosting their race day meet-ups, is to get a Grand Prix “overlooking the pyramids.”

Each event costs E£250, which all goes towards furthering the reach and quality of the Overtake Nation viewing parties. The revenue helps with growing their online platform, creating advertisements and content, and renting out the venues. They’ve also recently launched their inaugural Merch 001 line exclusively for the fan group.

In October 2025, three F1 fans staged their first watch party, founding Overtake Nation. That first event took place at the 354 Club in Madinaty, and in the short time since, they’ve continued to put on sold-out viewings of the sport. People come from across Cairo to watch the races, with many toting F1 merchandise to show their fandom.

Sundays have become F1 days in the heart of Cairo, with most events selling out. When the race times fall conveniently, they’ll easily sell the 200 tickets on offer, and usually end up having to turn people away at the door. Overtake Nation is growing quickly, building a case for the World Championship to return to Egypt.

Formula One is notably absent from Africa, and while Egypt does border the more over-represented Middle East region, it would add an important part of the map to the World Championship. With cities like Las Vegas chosen for their surroundings, you’d think that Egypt would be a no-brainer.

After all, the ancient structures dotted around the capital city and those that feature along the Nile are a huge draw, even beyond the tourism appeal. Across entertainment media, Ancient Egypt continues to be a mainstay. You can see it at its most numerous as a theme in the array of slots on UK online platforms.

Fury of Anubis was the most recent entry at the time of writing, and it joins big-hitters like the Eye of Horus and Temple of Iris series. All lean into the awe of the pyramids, the sphinx, and the myths etched on the walls and pillars of the tremendous landmarks.

Naturally, an Egyptian Grand Prix wouldn’t be permitted to zip around the ancient sites, but the sheer scale of them means that the race can take place quite far away, and they’d still be a feature of the broadcast. In 1947, the Gezira Grand Prix took place on the namesake island on the Nile in central Cairo, which was quite a spectacle.

Although Egypt doesn’t currently have its own F1-ready racetrack, the fan base is growing rapidly, and kart tracks are popping up all over the country. Perhaps, eventually, Egypt will invest in creating a world-class racetrack that combines its iconic setting with the ultimate racing sport.