Mercedes looking for more reliability as Malaysia beckons - MotorSportsTalk

It’s back to work this weekend for Mercedes in Malaysia after a mixed bag overall in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg had a splendid drive in Melbourne to capture the checkered flag but the Silver Arrows did not completely escape new-car reliability issues as former World Champion and pole sitter Lewis Hamilton bowed out due to an engine problem in the opening laps.

The W05 appears to be the car to beat so far in this new era of Formula One, but as shown by Hamilton’s disaster, it’s not a bulletproof piece. It will be interesting to see if the car’s reliability can catch up to its already stout pace.

Throw in the fact that Merc is heading to the home country of title sponsor Petronas, and it’s most certainly a very important weekend for the early front-runners.

“As one of our home races, we are extremely motivated to get a good result here,” Toto Wolff said in a team release. “The first race in Australia left us with mixed emotions. Neither of our drivers put a foot wrong all weekend but unfortunately, only one came away with the result he deserved.

“We know that reliability will be crucial to this long season and we have been working hard to improve the situation for the race in Malaysia. We made a solid start to the year in Melbourne, but we are very aware that not one percent of effort can be dropped if we are to remain competitive.”

Rosberg himself echoed Wolff’s comments, saying that while Melbourne made for a “perfect start” to his campaign, it also highlighted the need for reliability with these new V-6 powered machines.

“We’ve had two weeks before this race to identify all the things that we can do better, so hopefully we can bring both cars home for a good result this weekend and continue our strong start to the year,” the German said.

Meanwhile, Hamilton is looking to bounce back at Sepang International Circuit, where he’s hit the podium in the last two seasons but has yet to win at.

“Although [Australia] was not the result we were hoping for, every setback is a chance to learn more about this new car, which is important as they’re incredibly complex machines,” the Brit said. “I know the team at Brackley and Brixworth is pushing harder than ever and I’ll be doing the same.”

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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.”