(CNN)Las Vegas is home to high rollers and risk takers -- but when Formula One rode into America's playground in the early Eighties, the stakes got even higher.
</p>
<p>
For two strange seasons, in 1981 and 1982, the world championship was decided by the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
</p>
<p>
It sounded opulent and grand and, for once, the roulette tables weren't the only fortune-makers -- or fortune-breakers -- spinning round and round the famous hotel and casino.
</p>
<p>
"It was great to be in Vegas," America's 1978 F1 world champion Mario Andretti tells CNN. "Because of what Vegas has to offer as far as extravagance outside the race.
</p>
<p>
"It became a nice event per se because of all the amenities that the city has to offer."
</p>
<p>
Hot, hedonistic and high-flying, there was plenty to entertain the traveling F1 community as they arrived in Vegas after a long and fractious season on and off the track.
</p>
<p>
The teams were booked into Caesars Palace Hotel where they could lounge by the pool or gaze into the mirrored ceilings above the beds.