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F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany drives during the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix as we look at how the city has learned lessons from previous F1 races.
F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany drives during the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Photo by: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images.

It's not just a big event for our best sports betting sites, but also for it's host city.

The Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix is returning for its second consecutive year, with the first event scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 21. Last year marked the event's return to the city after its inaugural event 43 years ago fell flat. As Chris Pook, the founder of the Long Beach Grand Prix, put it last year, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in the 1980s was “a lesson learned.”

F1 announced its return to Las Vegas in 2022, a decision that made sense given the city’s vibrant entertainment and nightlife scene. While there were similar hopes back in the 1980s, last year’s race was a very different experience. The 2023 event was a major success for the city and its casinos, which generated a record $1.37 billion in revenue last November. Las Vegas is poised to host the race for many more years to come.

What went wrong in 1981?

Competitors Mario Andretti and Derek Daly remember the 1981 circuit as physically demanding, with tight turns and short straights under intense heat, with temperatures reaching nearly 99°F.

“It was tough. Those cars, even in those days, needed to be able to stretch their legs and they were somewhat restricted by the layout of the circuit,” said Pook last year, as reported by The Athletic. Still, he said, “Caesars spent a lot of money, a huge amount of money, building the circuit.”

The previous circuit was also visually underwhelming, while the famous neon lights of the Strip were barely noticeable as the race took place on a Saturday afternoon.

“It was more a novelty than an event,” Daly said.

The event also saw limited support within the city, including from local casinos and hotels. After just two years, F1 parted ways with Las Vegas.

“Nobody understood Formula One. Nobody knew Formula One drivers,” commented Daly. He and Andretti said that drivers’ presence essentially went unnoticed despite them staying in the casino hotels.

A lesson learned

“I think the legacy is a lesson learned,” Pook reflected. “You cannot put two pounds of manure in a one-pound bag. And in this case, Formula One was great in those days. The racing was great, the competition was great, everything was great. It just didn’t work. It just wouldn’t fit there. It didn’t give justice to the Formula One product.”

Today’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is much different. With strong support from local and state governments, the neon-lit, night-time event now draws up to 100,000 fans each day, a far cry from the 20,000 to 25,000 attendees of 1981.

Additionally, many prominent Strip casinos now have a financial stake in the event, in contrast to the previous lack of support.

“We have strengthened a lot of the relationships we had last year,” Emily Prazer, the Chief Commercial Officer of Las Vegas Grand Prix, told Forbes this week.

The Caesars Palace Experience offers fans exclusive viewing of F1® practices, qualifying, and Grand Prix sessions. At the same time, MGM Resorts’ Bellagio Fountain Club will “blend the elegance of Bellagio’s iconic Fountains with the excitement of F1,” according to Andrew Lanzino, MGM Resorts International's VP of Citywide Events Strategy.