Abu Dhabi: Sixty-thousand fans belonging to different nationalities descended on Yas Marina Circuit for Sunday’s Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — but few were more colourful and charismatic than a Ferrari follower called Moko.
The bejewelled Senegalese, who was an unmissable sight in the paddock before the race with his eye-catching African dress, spoke to Gulf News about his passion for F1.
“It’s like art. It’s not the engines roaring, but because it’s a situation between human being and machine and that’s no different to a human being with a canvas,” Moko, who refused to give his surname — “it’s just like [pop singers] Cher and Bono” — explained.
“If you gave a blank canvas to [Pablo] Picasso, it’s still canvas. What he puts on the canvas, you pay $100 million (Dh367m) for.”
Moko attends “at least” 17 of the 19 Grand Prixes yearly and reacted tersely when asked how he could afford this. “It doesn’t matter. How do people pay $100 million for a painting? What do I work as? It’s not important.
“I am just passionate about Formula One.”
Moko’s love of F1 was fuelled by the wheel-to-wheel combat waged by Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve and Renault’s Rene Arnoux. Their fierce battle for second place has been labelled one of the finest pieces of F1 theatre, after the pair touched wheels and swapped positions on several occasions, with Villeneuve eventually finishing runner-up to Jean-Pierre Jabouille.
“That’s also my best memory,” Moko added.
While Ferrari is his favourite team, he does not have a preferred driver. “They’re all my favourites. I call them the gladiators of the modern time. They give me joy.”
F1 will “never be boring”, either, Moko maintains, despite a second successive season of domination for world champions Mercedes.
He pointed out that the German team’s hegemony had followed similar periods of sustained success for teams such as Red Bull and Ferrari “every two or three years”.
“It’s the most wonderful sport in the world with high technology.”
Moko said his favourite track is Spa-Francorchamps at the Belgian Grand Prix, but is also impressed with Yas Marina Circuit, saying he has attended the Abu Dhabi GP venue every year since it first hosted the race here in 2009. He also hopes F1 can return to Africa — the continent last staging a GP in South Africa in 1993.
“Don’t forget there was a Grand Prix in Morocco in 1958. But it’s sad that F1 is not really global yet because Africa is not in the picture.
“I hope that in the lifetime of Bernie [Ecclestone, the sport’s supremo], you’re going to see it back in Africa.”
