Formula 1 Should Return To Casablanca

Forget Kyalami – Formula 1 should return to Casablanca

With all the talk of Formula 1 possibly going back to Kyalami in South Africa for the 2023 Season, is there a better alternative? I think there is.

The Moroccan Grand Prix was held near Casablanca in 1957 as a Non-Championship Race before serving as the season finale for the 1958 season. Mike Hawthorn grabbed Pole Position before settling for P2 in the Grand Prix behind race winner Stirling Moss with the Ferrari of Phil Hill in third.

It sadly hasn’t been seen since – and that’s a darn shame.

But maybe it’s time that this changed. People have been criticizing Formula 1 lately for not being a global enough Championship.

This comes after a third race was added to the F1 calendar in America (Las Vegas in case you’ve been living under a rock) and a fourth was added from the Middle East (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi).

Yet Formula 1 currently only has one race in South America (Brazil) and has none whatsoever in Africa. If it weren’t for Japan, Asia would be completely ignored too. For a World Championship, a lot of the world is still missing out.

Kyalami has been looked at because not much needs to be done for it to satisfy the requirements that Formula 1 needs to race there. It also has history of serving as a track on the F1 calendar in the past.

But does the fact that it’s easy to do and that it’s more well-known mean that it’s the right thing to do?

Image: Unsplash

Other countries in Africa, besides Morocco could make for good venues. Senegal recently hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, thus perfectly demonstrating their ability to pull off a big event.

A Senegal Street Circuit could be quite exciting and if anything, makes the case for Morocco even stronger. In fact, outside of South Africa and Morocco, no other countries have hosted an F1 Grand Prix in its 70+ year history. No wonder people are annoyed that the entire African Continent is seemingly being ignored.

South Africa by itself also doesn’t solve Formula 1’s Africa problem. It’ll partly come across as a bit of a ticking of the quota box rather than saying that F1 is fully coming to Africa. Having two races there at least (Kyalami and Casablanca if it makes you happy) shows trust and confidence in the region.

Then to balance that and ensure the F1 calendar isn’t too stuffed – which it’s already getting perilously close to – why not alternate between the tracks used each year in America and the Middle East. For example, go to Austin and Las Vegas one year, then swap one out for Miami the following year and the same for the Middle Eastern quartet.

This would also add an extra level of excitement to these races which is never a bad thing. Either that or make one or two of these races in the U.S and the Middle East Non-Championship events where reserve and driver academy drivers get to race in the F1 cars instead as I’ve suggested in a previous article on this website.

Casablanca getting a Grand Prix would attract people from all of North Africa to go and watch, which is a lot simpler and more cost effective than it would be for all of them to trek down to South Africa for the weekend.

Image: Unsplash

Formula 1 is expensive enough as it is these days and charging new fans (or at least fans that have the opportunity go to an F1 race near them for the first time) a silly amount of money is a sure-fire way to make the event fail in the long term.

Plus, when you hear the name Casablanca, you get flashes of the classic film, sophistication, excitement, mystery and the sense that you’re exploring something new while it also has deep rooted ties in Formula 1’s history.

Just say the words Casablanca Grand Prix to yourself. Sounds pretty cool right? I rest my case.

Author: Thiemo Albers-Daly