Maldonado on a mission with Williams - MotorSportsTalk

Pastor Maldonado has said that he is very happy at Williams F1 Team, explaining how he is on a “mission” to win a world championship with the British team before moving on to pastures new amid rumors that he could be on the move next season.

With just six drivers holding contracts for next year, there could be a sizeable change in the grid for 2014, but Maldonado is refusing to read into any talk in the media.

“I heard a lot of rumours to be honest,” Maldonado explained. “I have a friend which is one of my best mates and he was calling me when I was on the beach: ‘oh I read in a newspaper you are going to Ferrari, you are going to Lotus.’ To be honest, I’m fully focused on this season, there is no point to say I’m going somewhere else. I’m in a good place.”

Maldonado conceded that the team was performing below par this season, but he has faith in his future at Williams.

“For sure, the results are not there, the team potential is big as always, we need to work together, harder, and I hope to stay. I hope to be here even next year. You never know. I really want to win the championship in Williams, before I go to another team.

“For me, it’s like a mission when I got to the team. I mean, I have a lot of responsibility on my back, not only to drive for Williams, I drive for my country and I drive for PDVSA as well so I have a lot of responsibility.”

On a personal level, Maldonado is pleased with his showings so far this season despite scoring just one point in 2013.

“I think I’m doing quite well, the team is happy with my drives, we won a race in my second year even when the car was not a car to win races. I think I’m doing quite well, just, we need to put everything together just to be more consistent as a team, not only as a driver.”

Williams currently occupy P9 in the constructors’ championship, six points behind Sauber. If Maldonado can string together some points-scoring finishes, the team could soon surpass their rivals and put themselves in good stead for the rest of the season.

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.”