Long Beach looking into plans to host F1 Grand Prix

Long Beach city council has approved a study into whether or not to bid to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix event in future.

The city was the venue for the United States Grand Prix West between 1976 and 1983. Winners on the two mile street course include Clay Regazzoni, Mario Andretti, Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve. The last F1 winner in Long Beach was John Watson, racing for McLaren.

Since 1984, a modified Long Beach circuit has been the host of an annual race on the IndyCar Series calendar. Recent winners have included Sebastian Bourdais, Takuma Sato, Will Power and British drivers Dario Franchitti and Mike Conway.

The most recent Long Beach race was held two weeks ago and was won by Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe.

Last year, Long Beach also hosted the sixth round of the 2015/6 FIA Formula E championship, which saw Lucas di Grassi claim victory.

But now city authorities are examining whether to continue to continue with the IndyCar event, or if they should bid for a Formula 1 race. On Tuesday, the council signed a one-year contract worth $150,000 with KPMG Corporate Finance LLC to look into the viability of both races.

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Formula 1 representatives reportedly approached the council in 2015 about possibly holding a Grand Prix. Council members asked potential promoters for both F1 and IndyCar events to present their proposals.

The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach and World Automobile Championship of California, LLC submitted their responses toward the end of 2016.

Long Beach online news website Gazettes says KPMG will examine the ability of both promoters to fulfil any contract.

The council also wants to know what benefits will be brought to the city by each event. There will also be a cost/benefit analysis of each option.

The current contract for the IndyCar event expires at the end of 2018.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.