F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali revealed the championship is in talks with Rwanda over plans to host a grand prix in the East African country.
Domenicali told Autosport that Rwanda is “serious” about the project, especially as F1 does not currently hold a round in Africa despite grands prix in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.
But a visit to the continent is now a key target as F1 aims to increase its calendar to capitalise on the championship’s global popularity boom.
So, what is Africa’s history in F1 and what do drivers think of a potential visit to the continent?
Marc Surer, Arrows A6 Ford
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Has F1 raced in Africa before?
There have been two African countries to host an F1 race: Morocco and South Africa. F1 first visited Africa in 1958 with the Moroccan Grand Prix, which has to date been the championship’s only visit to the country.
But grand prix racing in Morocco actually began in 1925, when it hosted the Casablanca GP that was staged for touring cars and was won by Frenchman Comte de Vaugelas in a Delage.
Morocco hosted a grand prix on and off over the following 31 years for touring or sports cars, where the event had other titles like the Anfa GP.
It was only in 1957 that Morocco finally ran its event to F1 regulations, as a world-class field debuted the Ain-Diab Circuit in Casablanca-Settat which was a 4.724-mile high-speed track that ran through the Sidi Abderrahman forest.
Even though it was a non-championship round, meaning no points were on offer, much of the F1 grid still took part. The race was ultimately won by Jean Behra for Maserati, ahead of Stewart Lewis-Evans and Maurice Trintignant.
Juan Manuel Fangio was also amongst the finishers in fourth, while Tony Brooks started on pole but retired after 12 laps due to a problem with his Vanwall’s electrics. The grand prix finally became a championship event the following year, as the Moroccan GP hosted the final round of the 1958 F1 season.
It capped off an incredible title battle between Stirling Moss and Mike Hawthorn, who were separated by eight points with one round remaining.
Moss needed to win in Morocco while setting the fastest lap with Hawthorn finishing no higher than third to pip his Ferrari rival to the title. He could have also done it by winning without the fastest lap bonus point and Hawthorn finishing third or lower also without the fastest lap.
Hawthorn dealt the first blow by beating Moss to pole by just 0.1s, but the Vanwall driver claimed the lead at race start while Hawthorn even dropped behind Phil Hill to third. Moss was a level above that day as he quickly pulled away from the rest of the pack, while Hawthorn dropped to fourth after 25 laps.
He re-claimed third shortly afterwards, while team orders meant Hawthorn overtook Hill for second on the 41st lap — a finishing position which gave him the world championship.
Hawthorn’s glory was marred by Lewis-Evans’ crash though, as a seizing engine sent him into the barriers causing his Vanwall to catch fire. Six days later, the burns caused him to die at the age of 28 and F1 has not returned to Morocco.
F1 next visited the continent in 1962 for the South African GP, when it was hosted at Prince George Circuit which first held the event in 1934. It was the destination for South Africa’s first three inclusions on the F1 calendar, in which Graham Hill claimed the inaugural victory before Jim Clark won the next two in 1963 and 1965.
The South African GP moved to its eventual permanent venue of Kyalami in 1967, which at the time was a 2.55-mile track on the outskirts of the country’s largest city Johannesburg.
It hosted the South African GP every year until 1985, during which time Kyalami opened the F1 season six times while also being the finale in 1983. The 1981 edition was a non-championship round though, due to the ongoing FISA-FOCA war which was a political battle between the two sporting organisations.
That year, the South African GP was scheduled to be the season opener in February but the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) teams withdrew because they insisted on a date change.
The event was run to Formula Libre regulations as a result and only the Formula One Constructors’ Association affiliated teams partook, with Carlos Reutemann winning for Williams.
It was also the decade that violence broke out due to apartheid — a system of institutionalised racial segregation — and nations began to boycott sporting events in South Africa.
So, just after the 1985 South African GP, which was won by Nigel Mansell, FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre confirmed F1 would stop visiting until apartheid ended. It did so in 1991 meaning F1 returned to South Africa the following year at a heavily revised Kyalami circuit, which was now 0.098 miles longer while the start-finish straight had moved to the other side of the track.
Mansell won again on Kyalami’s return having dominated from pole to kickstart his championship-winning campaign. South Africa was the season opener again in 1993 and that year’s world champion Alain Prost also won from pole, yet four months later Kyalami was sold to the South African Automobile Association who deemed running a grand prix too costly.
So, that season was Kyalami’s final appearance on the calendar and F1 has not visited the African continent since 1993.
Alain Prost, Williams FW15C Renault.
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Is F1 coming to Africa?
The African continent’s potential return to F1 has been a consistent talking point over the past several years. In 2009, for example, then-FIA president Jean Todt questioned the country’s interest in F1 to which Beaulah Schoeman, Managing Director of Motorsport South Africa at the time, lashed back stating how proud they are of previously hosting a grand prix.
Its return seemed far-fetched though due to Kyalami’s decline, but heavy renovation work was carried out over the following years. This led to circuit developer Andrew Baldwin saying in 2016 that Kyalami is “close” to being compliant with F1 standards, which state the facility must be FIA Grade 1 to host a grand prix.
Kyalami was working towards Grade 2 status at the time and despite eventually achieving that level, it has remained ever since thus affecting its chances of returning to F1. That is despite vast negotiations between F1 and the venue which caused speculation that South Africa might be added to the already congested 2023 calendar.
That eventually didn’t happen as negotiations broke down yet talks continued for 2024. But, F1 was understood to be reluctant to push ahead with potentially unsustainable plans that could result in the event collapsing before its contract has even finished.
The delay also followed accusations from the United States ambassador to South Africa that the country had supplied arms to Russia in its war with Ukraine. So, plans to reintroduce Kyalami for 2024 were shelved and Rwanda has since emerged as the African country most likely to host a grand prix.
Talks have been scheduled between F1 bosses and the Rwandan representatives, in which it is understood that plans are at an advanced enough stage for more serious discussions to occur.
Domenicali confirmed “it will be on a permanent track” should the grand prix go ahead, but where in Rwanda the venue could be is yet to be revealed.
In the meantime, Rwanda will increase its motorsport presence by hosting this year’s FIA Annual General Assembly and Prize Giving Ceremony at its capital city Kigali in December.
Domenicali will hold talks with Rwanda over a potential future on the calendar
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Do F1 drivers want to race in Africa?
Several F1 drivers have repeatedly supported the idea of the championship returning to Africa with Lewis Hamilton being the most vocal.
The seven-time world champion spoke on the subject in 2021 when he was asked which country he would most like to see added to the F1 calendar.
This question came during a year that saw Saudi Arabia and Qatar make their F1 debuts, while the inaugural Miami GP was set to happen in 2022.
Hamilton said: ”The place that I really feel is dear to my heart and most important for me is to get a race back in South Africa.
«I think there is a great following out there and I think it would be great to be able to highlight just how beautiful the motherland is.”
Those thoughts were echoed by Charles Leclerc, who said: ”I agree with Lewis, on Africa in general, it would be great to have a race there.»
The topic came up again in 2022 when Domenicali reiterated his desire for Africa to return because “we are a world championship, and that’s an area where we are not there”.
Hamilton then continued his public advocacy for a race on the continent, as he said ahead of the 2023 Miami GP: “I like the direction personally that [F1] is going in. I’ve been here, like many people, a long time. I like the change that we are seeing and it’s exciting coming to different parts of the world and different circuits.
“We’re on all the other continents, so I’m hoping we get to go to Africa soon and that will be an amazing experience for the whole circus to experience the culture there.”
Max Verstappen is another world champion to have offered support for a race in Africa, because of F1’s need to spread out its expanding calendar.
“I really think we need a race in Africa,” he said. “We basically race on every other continent already, so I think that’s the next step for Formula 1.
“Formula 1 already has a history in South Africa, so that would be a great addition to the Formula 1 calendar.»
Hamilton and Leclerc have both advocated an African round
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Has there ever been an African F1 driver?
There have been 30 drivers from the continent to enter an F1 grand prix. South Africa is the most represented country having produced 23 F1 drivers, though only four of those have started over 10 races: Jody Scheckter, Tony Maggs, Ian Scheckter and Dave Charlton.
Jody, the younger brother of Ian, is the most successful as he remains the only F1 world champion to have hailed from the African continent. His debut came with McLaren at the 1972 season finale in Watkins Glen, but Scheckter did not contest a full F1 campaign until 1974.
It was an impressive rookie year too as Scheckter, who replaced the retired Sir Jackie Stewart at Tyrrell, finished third in the championship with two victories. The following season was disappointing for Scheckter though, as he came seventh in the standings but he did become the first South African to win their home race after fending off Carlos Reutemann who was just 3.74s behind.
Scheckter won four grands prix over the following three years before clinching his world championship in 1979. It was a pretty dominant campaign by the then-Ferrari driver, whose six podiums including three victories meant he clinched the title with two rounds to spare. The Scuderia messed up its car for 1980 though, as Scheckter scored just two points before retiring at the end of the year.
Rhodesia, now the independent countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia, is F1’s next best represented part of Africa as six drivers have hailed from the former British colony. Although none of them entered more than 10 grands prix in their career, John Love still enjoyed a relatively successful time.
That is because Love, whose only entry outside of Africa was in Monza, finished second at the 1967 South African GP when competing in a privateer Cooper. Love also competed away from F1, as he won the 1962 British Saloon Car Championship, now the British Touring Car Championship, in a Mini Cooper.
Morocco is the third African country to have been represented in F1, as Robert La Caze was the championship’s first driver to compete under an African licence. He only entered one grand prix though, as he finished 14th at his home race using a privateer Cooper.
La Caze also contested the Le Mans 24 Hours three times but never finished.
Jody Scheckter is Africa’s only F1 champion
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