Martini planned, Genworth confirmed as Williams partners - MotorSportsTalk

Williams appears set to bring Martini and its legendary red, white and blue colors back to Formula One, per an Autosport report. The deal is not yet finalized and the livery, more importantly, still yet to be revealed before the March 16 season opener in Australia.

Martini had a heavy presence in F1 in the 1970s with the Tecno, Brabham and Lotus organizations, but has its only appearance in recent years was in a minor role with Ferrari that began in 2006.

The team did announce one new partnership, with global lifestyle protection insurer Genworth signing up earlier this week. Genworth’s logo will appear on the rear wing endplates of the FW36.

“I’m delighted to welcome a brand of Genworth’s pedigree to the team for the 2014 season and beyond,” Sir Frank Williams said in a team release. “We share a number of similar values such as ensuring excellence and integrity in everything we do and a truly global footprint. We’re looking forward to working in close collaboration to help them maximise the benefits that come from a close association with Williams and Formula One.”

It is yet to be determined whether Williams will be in full livery at the Bahrain test next week, or if it will continue to run in the testing dark blue as at Jerez.

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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.”