LAS VEGAS | Despite what the news reports say and the marketing of the race this week in the heart of the Strip, this is not the first Grand Prix in Las Vegas. In 1981 and 1982, the great F1 circus concluded its seasons in the Nevada desert.
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Australian Alan Jones won the inaugural edition at the wheel of his Williams. The following year, the Italian Michel Alboreto imitated him in his Tyrrell.
What caught the attention of these first visits to Las Vegas, however, was the unusual circuit built in the Caesars Palace parking lot. The 3.6 kilometer route had 14 turns so tight that it was said to resemble a go-kart circuit.
Moreover, rather unusual, it was the famous actor Paul Newman, also a driver, who was the race director.
Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet and several other big names in the discipline took part in these editions.
Drivers requested
Vegas didn’t look like it does today with its dozens of huge, luxurious establishments. The drivers then complained about the dust on the track and the turns of the winding circuit which entered three times abruptly inside the quadrilateral of the plot of land developed to the north of the Caeasars Palace.
Turning counterclockwise and with several sudden turns requiring the brakes, the pilots had to withstand significant centrifugal forces. In addition, the route was lined with high concrete blocks, leaving no margin for error.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY LAS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU
The organizers would have liked the route to take the famous Las Vegas Boulevard. But, being state property, government authorities refused.
These two editions had difficulty attracting 35,000 spectators despite the desire of the big boss of F1 at the time, Bernie Ecclestone, to establish himself in the United States. It was a failure.
Twenty-six years later, the Indy formulas of the Champ-Car series rolled through the streets of downtown Vegas, east of the Strip, to launch the 2007 championship. More than 40,000 Spectators had attended the race, exceeding the capacity of the stands around the temporary street circuit.
Impossible
This return to Vegas would never have been possible if the single-seaters had not rolled on the grand boulevard. It was the centerpiece of the major project.
Rather than reaching out to commercial partners in the region, including hotels, Liberty Media and F1 planted their idea in the minds of Nevada, county and city authorities.
Seeing a real windfall of gold and incredible visibility across the globe, they gave the green light for the cars to drive on nearly two kilometers of the famous Strip.