The great return
Already in the spring of 2022, Formula 1 announced a great return for the 2023 world championship: a 41 years old from the latest editionThe Circus would officially restart the engines once again at Las Vegas. More than a year after that first press release, we have now reached the week that will lead us to this event, amidst the controversies, curiosities and exaggerations of a city recognized globally as the capital of vice and gambling.
The initial project
The race will take place on the city circuit Strip, where all the most luxurious hotels and casinos are concentrated with the artificial lights that will illuminate the track in anticipation of a race that will take place at night. We then return to a place already known to Formula 1, which also did not race on this track in the early 1980s, and did not do so by turning on the green light after sunset. It is no coincidence that the official name of the GP was not that of ‘Las Vegas’, like the one baptized for the 2023 event, but that of ‘Caesars Palace’: a name, a why. Yesterday as today, the Caesars Palace it is a famous hotel-casino, home to important boxing matches, and the idea of the organizers of the new GP, in agreement with the FIA, was to obtain a circuit from the structure’s car parks using other not yet urbanized areas of the city to complete the layout. Initially included in the 1980 championship calendar in place of Watkins Glenthe project was postponed to 1981, again to replace the New York circuit itself, which from then on no longer belonged to the Circus.
1981
With a contract initially valid up to and including 1984, F1 then made its first appearance in Las Vegas as the theater oflast race of the season 1981. As such, the predictions of a possible world championship fight until the final act of the world championship were fully respected, with a three-way battle between Jacques Laffite, Nelson Piquet and Carlos Reutemann, with the Argentinian from Williams in the role of leader of the world championship standings. It was the latter who obtained pole position in Saturday’s qualifying, starting for the sixth and final time from first place in his career and with Piquet on the second row. Almost excluded from the Laffite games, even 12th. The race, however, went against most expectations: in clear difficulty, Reutemann immediately lost positions from the start, to the point of only crossing the finish line in 8th place. He therefore arrived outside the points zone, which at the time rewarded the top six, Piquet he had the great opportunity of being able to enter the top-6 in order to overtake the Argentine from Williams, which he did, placing himself in fifth place ahead of Laffite, who instead made an excellent comeback. The final result was therefore sufficient for Piquet to graduate for the first time world champion in his careerwhile Williams consoled herself with the success of Alan Joneswho won his last victory in career ahead of Alain Prost and Bruno Giacomelliwith the Roman from Alfa Romeo at his side first and only podium in F1.
1982
Also for the following year Las Vegas was reconfirmed as the last race of the world championship, and also in 1982 there was the big question mark not only for the Drivers’ world title, but also for the Builders. In the first case, the big favorite was Keke Rosbergstruggling with John Watson and with Didier Pironi, who was however absent from numerous races due to the terrible injury suffered at Hockenheim which put an end to his career. Conversely, the Ferrari he would have to defend his leadership on the McLarenmade even more solid also thanks to the historic success of Mario Andretti in Monza, with the Italian-American called by the ‘Red’ precisely as a replacement for French. Qualifying, however, smiled on the Renaults Prost and Arnouxboth in the front row and with the ‘Professor’ in pole position. The outcome of the Ferraris was more worrying, with Andretti only 7th ahead of Tambay (also called to replace Gilles Villeneuve, who died in Belgium), with the Frenchman not taking part in the race due to severe pain in his arm. To make matters worse, ‘Big Foot’ Andretti retired from the race due to technical problems, the same ones that also forced a former Ferrari driver like Niki Lauda, who returned to competition that year with McLaren, to stop. A lump sum that proved decisive at the end of the Constructors’ World Championship, with the ‘Prancing Horse’ who managed to win his seventh title despite the 2nd place for Watson. Furthermore, the Northern Irishman was unable to recover enough points Keke Rosbergfor whom it was enough to reach the finish line 5th to graduate World Champion for the first and only time in his career. In 2016, the same result will be achieved by his son Nico. A podium, that of the last GP in Las Vegas (which left F1 in 1983 and remained for two years only for CART, i.e. today’s IndyCar), however very blue: in addition to the 3rd place of the American Eddie Cheevernicknamed ‘The American of Rome’ for having grown up in Italy, the greatest achievement was that of the late Michele Alboretowho won his first GP in his career bringing Tyrrell back to the forefront after more than four years.
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