Formula 1 returns to Singapore in 11 days, so now seems as good a time as any to look back at one of the sport’s great forgotten street circuits: Long Beach.
After a successful Formula 5000 race in 1975, the Californian city held its first Grand Prix in 1976. The venue became a firm favourite – especially after 1977 when Mario Andretti scored the first home win for an American driver – but increasing financial pressures meant that Formula 1 last visited in 1983, being replaced by CART and IndyCar races that continue to this day.
This video of Patrick Depailler is from 1978, a year in which he was particularly on form. In the new Tyrrell 008 he vied for the championship lead in the early stages of the season until being plagued with reliability issues down the stretch. Depailler was reportedly not a fan of the Long Beach circuit, but that didn’t stop him from throwing the car around the place in his usual wild style.
Laurent Mekies arrives as Red Bull F1 team principal with a series of immediate challenges to solve and long-term issues to tackle. He'll either sink or swim, says Mark Hughes
Former McLaren F1 team-mates Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard are set to renew old rivalries in a new Evening with... tour – they told James Elson all about it
In Formula 1, driver contracts may look iron-clad on paper, but history shows that some of its biggest stars have made dramatic early exits
Former McLaren F1 ace told James Elson about his private audience with The Beatles' George Harrison, who played an unreleased grand prix-themed song