Maldonado to join Williams test drivers at Silverstone - MotorSportsTalk

Williams have confirmed they will take advantage of the opportunity to run one of their race drivers in the Young Drivers Test at Silverstone this week.

Pastor Maldonado will run during the test to assess the revised tires for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“Given the recent test regulation changes, we will also now run Pastor to enable Pirelli to gain further data to continue their development program,” said technical director Mike Coughlan.

The team will give testing opportunities to DTM racer Daniel Juncadella and development driver Susie Wolff, who was the first person to drive the FW35 in a shakedown test at Idiada earlier this year.

“It is great that we are able to give Susie the opportunity to have a full day behind the wheel of the FW35 following all the hard work and dedication she has put in both supporting us at the track and in the simulator,” Coughlan added.

“Daniel is a young talent who has had a great deal of success over the past few seasons and we’re excited to give him the chance to see what he can do behind the wheel of a Formula One car.”

Juncadella drives for Mercedes’ team in the top German touring car championship and Williams will use their engines in F1 from next year.

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”