The countdown is on to Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, not just the first, but the fanciest, flashiest, most Super Bowl-esque extravaganza Formula 1 has ever staged.
The first? Well, that’s moot because the entertainment capital of the world – self-proclaimed in the loud, kaching world of slot machines, roulette wheels and blackjack tables – hosted two races in 1981 and 1982.
They were held at Caesars Palace. In the hotel car park even, and they failed to create the impression Bernie Ecclestone had hoped for.
The withdrawal that followed proved the truth that America has often been a tough nut to crack for Europe-focused F1. The low point came in 2005 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where only six cars started the farcical race due to tire safety concerns. F1 was booed out of town.
Now, under the American ownership of Liberty Media, the United States is the primary target. The introduction of Vegas means there are three races a year on that side of the Pond: Miami, in its second season, and Austin, added in 2012 and one of ten venues to host the US Grand Prix since 1908. And if Miami bustles with celebrities on the most Americanized and glitziest grid, Las Vegas promises to take the razzmatazz off the dial.
Formula 1 returns to Las Vegas next weekend for the first time since 1982
A 6.2km course stretches along the Strip in the heart of a backdrop that, when lit up for a cold start of 10pm local time (6am, Sunday GMT), is sure to look stunning on TV.
And for Formula 1’s owners, the project is so important that they have broken the habit of largely financing and organizing it themselves, rather than commissioning a local promoter. An estimated half a billion dollars has been invested in the event.
John Watson, who raced in both Caesars Palace races and missed out on Keke Rosberg’s world championship in the 1982 edition, takes us back to his arrival in Sin City and says: ‘I’ve never been anywhere like this. It was a gigantic entertainment organ for adults. A place where there are no children.
“I remember when they put most of the drivers, especially those from important teams, in a separate wing at Caesars Palace reserved for the high rollers. The rooms, with mirrors everywhere, were larger than the average semi-detached house in Britain and for your satisfaction and pleasure, whatever took your fancy.
Alan Jones celebrates his victory in Vegas in 1981, flanked by Alain Prost (left) and Bruno Giacomelli Bob Thomas
‘It was the early 1980s and Britain was starting to adapt to the good life, but this was on a different level.’
Las Vegas hoped Formula 1 would bring in high-stakes gamblers, but as Watson recalls, that ambition went unfulfilled. “The crowd was a little smaller in the second year and a line was drawn,” the five-time Grand Prix winner, now 77, told Mail Sport.
‘People there wanted to make money, not spend it. That was evident the moment you walked through the lobby of Caesars, from the row upon row of slot machines there.
‘There are no clocks on the wall and it’s like being locked in a place where time and space are suspended.’
Briton John Watson (above) chased an elusive world title in his McLaren in 1982
Watson did this on a two-mile course that he described as “like three paper clips next to each other.”
So it’s still across the street from the hotel-casinos that the new race will weave through. I ask if anyone among the drivers was a big gambler at the time. Watson, who raced for McLaren with Niki Lauda in 1982, doesn’t think so, although he remembers the French being perhaps the sharpest; Not Lauda. “Like the casino bosses, Niki was interested in getting money and not wasting it,” his old friend said.
“The person who would have been the biggest gambler would have been Bernie. He went to many casinos in London. I don’t know whether he got involved with the blackjack tables in Las Vegas.’
About the small track in the parking lot, Watson said, “If you put three paperclips next to each other, that’s the layout. The facilities weren’t great for the teams, but that wasn’t the reason it fell by the wayside; it was mainly because the big spenders didn’t show up.’
Formula 1 bosses now hope to stage their shinier Las Vegas reincarnation for a decade – perhaps longer, on the basis that if it works, why stop?
In any case, they capitalize on Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, which has opened up the sport to a new audience in the United States, younger and more diverse.
A sell-out crowd of 100,000 people is expected every day, ranging from three-day general admission for $500 (£410), to tickets with ‘free’ Wolfgang Puck food and soft drinks. The best ticket in town is for the Wynn Grid Club for $150,000 (£122,000) for four nights and lavish hospitality.
Watson warns. “Those races in 1981 and 1982 had the advantage of being title deciders,” says the Northern Irishman. ‘Not this one. It was decided three or four races ago, so it means the event isn’t quite in the same spotlight.
“They love blood, sweat and tears in America – certainly tears and joy – and if I were Formula 1 I would have an unwritten guarantee that the world championship would be decided in Las Vegas.
‘What would improve the race is if there was an American team called Andretti and an important American driver. That would give the press something to work with. As it is, there are three star names on the grid. Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton – the three world champions.
‘But by far the most famous in the world and certainly in North America is Lewis. He knows how to get the crowd moving. If I was in charge of Formula 1, I would do everything in my power to make sure he wins in Las Vegas, no matter what. If he doesn’t do that, someone isn’t doing their job.’