Has F1 ever raced in Africa? A look at its history

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?

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…