The Grand Prix of Caesars Palace: The History of the Las Vegas GP in the 1980s

Getty ImagesThe start of the GP in Las Vegas in 1982

NOS Sport•vandaag, 07:17

With Las Vegas, Max Verstappen and his colleagues will visit a brand new circuit on the Formula 1 calendar this weekend. Yet the American gambling paradise and the pinnacle of motorsport are no strangers. Racing took place more than forty years ago, although few will have fond memories of it.

Formula 1 races were already held in Las Vegas in 1981 and 1982. Officially it was called the ‘Grand Prix of Caesars Palace’ at the time, after one of the many gaudy casino-hotels on the famous Strip in Vegas that the GP financed at the time.

“The race was in the hotel parking lot,” says former Formula 1 driver Jan Lammers. “It was like a kind of go-kart track. At the time, it often happened that a circuit was simply placed somewhere, especially in America.”

Getty ImagesThe GP is Las Vegas was held in a parking lot in the 1980s

Lammers drove in Formula 1 in the early 1980s, but was not active in the races in Vegas. “I was there as a commentator for the NOS,” he says more than forty years later.

Alan Jones won the first edition in 1981. Yet the Australian spoke after “the least appealing race” he had ever driven. “Jones was always an outspoken driver,” Lammers says about his former colleague. “And I understand what he meant.”

Boring, hot and windy

The parking lot was as flat as a billiard table. The circuit was cordoned off with concrete blocks, so drivers could hardly see anything of the surroundings. The boring layout of the small circuit, the Nevada heat and the wind that blew the desert sand over the track made for downright unpleasant conditions.

“Because of the wind and the sand, there were many drivers who messed up,” says Lammers. “I especially remember a serious crash by Jacques Villeneuve. The entire front of his car was blown away, he was able to get out straight away.”

Las Vegas GPThe circuit of the 80s in Las Vegas (top left) and the track where it will be raced this weekend (right)

Nelson Piquet, who finished fifth in Las Vegas in 1981, became so exhausted by the heat and the many twists and turns that he vomited in his helmet. Yet fifth place was just enough for Verstappen’s current father-in-law to secure his first of three world titles. He was ahead of his Argentinian competitor Carlos Reutemann by one point.

Also a year later, the GP in the casino parking lot was the closing race of the season. And once again the title fight was decided in Las Vegas. The Finn Keke Rosberg, the father of the later F1 champion Nico Rosberg, was honored at Casaers Palace in 1982.

As a gambling and party paradise, Las Vegas was an ideal place to celebrate the world title. “But there was a lot of gambling in between the different training sessions,” Lammers remembers.

EPAHet Caesars Palace casino-hotel in Las Vegas

However, the race in Las Vegas was not a permanent fixture on the calendar. Formula 1 did not return after 1982. Not only because the parking lot was not particularly popular with the drivers, but also because public interest was disappointing. Caesars Palace no longer saw any point in the organization.

“Just like with any other circuit, it is a weighing of the benefits and costs,” says Lammers. “I can imagine that there was a significant loss of income in Las Vegas due to the Formula 1 race.”

Trunk sloppy

There will also be a lot of organizational hassle on the Strip when it returns this year. “Numerous hotel windows that provide a view of the circuit must be tinted,” Lammers says. “And that’s just one example. There’s a lot involved in organizing a Formula 1 race.”

NOSThe Las Vegas Grand Prix on NOS

“On the other hand, such a Formula 1 race also provides a lot of publicity. We also notice that in Zandvoort,” says Lammers, who is now commercial director of the Dutch GP. “It is much busier here all year round with tourists since Formula 1 has returned. The entire middle class benefits from it.”

“It can also happen in Las Vegas. But if the benefits do not outweigh the costs, I see Formula 1 leaving Las Vegas again very soon.”

Just like it was in the eighties.

2023-11-15 06:17:54
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