MotorSportsTalk's predictions: Italian GP - MotorSportsTalk

The European leg of the 2013 season comes to a close at Monza this weekend with the Italian Grand Prix, a mainstay on the calendar ever since the first Formula One world championship in 1950. With the loyal Tifosi cheering on Ferrari, the Scuderia will be hoping to win for a third time in 2013 this weekend, but with Sebastian Vettel laying down an ominous pace during practice today, it appears that the German driver could enter his favored Asian leg of the calendar with a lead equivalent to more than two race wins.

Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno)

Race winner: Sebastian Vettel. Even though he has won here twice previously, Monza isn’t usually a track that favors the Red Bull since so much is about top-end speed. That said, still on fine form after his Belgian win and a win to conclude the European season would surprise almost no one.

Surprising finish: Nico Hulkenberg. Sauber won’t be able to match its surprise podium repeat achieved by Sergio Perez a year ago but Hulkenberg’s due for a good race at a track that will mask the car’s aero deficiencies and is all about power. The Ferrari-engined Sauber could be in the eighth or ninth place range.

Most to prove: Felipe Massa. Job on the line and in front of the tifosi, a must for Massa to have a clean, high-points scoring weekend in Italy.

Christopher Estrada (@estradawriting)

Race winner: Fernando Alonso. Monza’s famed “tifosi” demand nothing less than victory from Ferrari, and it’ll likely be up to Alonso to get the job done for them. Considering his strong run last time out at Spa – like Monza, a low-downforce track – he stands a chance of coming through with a critical win for his title hopes.

Surprising finish: Mark Webber. Through eleven starts at Monza in his Formula One career, Webber has yet to hit the podium. It’d be great to see him finally break through at “La Pista Magica” as he continues his farewell tour of F1 before heading off to the sports cars next season.

Most to prove: Jean-Eric Vergne. His Toro Rosso teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, has punched a ticket to the big time with his ascension to Mark Webber’s Red Bull seat for 2014. With that in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an extra-motivated “JEV” for the rest of the season starting in Italy.

Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1)

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton. The Briton has been relentless in qualifying so far this season, chasing his fifth in a row at Monza this weekend. Given that five of the past six winners in Italy have started from pole, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him bag P1 on Saturday and simply keep it ahead of Vettel on Sunday, just as he did in Hungary.

Surprising finish: Jenson Button. McLaren appear to be on the cusp of something good in Italy, having also ran well at the Belgian Grand Prix last month. Button could be poised to claim the team’s best result of 2013 so far this weekend.

Most to prove: Daniel Ricciardo. Essentially, he needs to say “here’s why Red Bull hired me” at Monza.

Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes have usually been handy around Monza. Hamilton’s on a run of four consecutive pole positions and he’s got a good chance of repeating his win from last year.

Surprising finish: Sergio Perez. Something of a Monza specialist – he scored two remarkable wins in his F3 days at this track from 14th on the grid, and took an excellent second here last year.

Most to prove: Pastor Maldonado. He needs to erase memories of the blunder that ended his race at Spa.

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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.”

MotorSportsTalk’s predictions: Italian GP

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024