WATCH LIVE: Hamilton bids for first win of 2014 in Malaysia - MotorSportsTalk

After claiming pole position in very difficult conditions yesterday, Lewis Hamilton is looking to convert this into his first race win of the season and his second for Mercedes LIVE on NBCSN and Live Extra from 3:30am ET. CLICK HERE to tune in via live stream.

The British driver has been dominant across the course of the weekend, meaning that pole position came as little surprise. However, after a disastrous winter, defending world champion Sebastian Vettel finally appears to have returned to form after qualifying in second place for Red Bull.

Should rain intervene with today’s proceedings, the stage might be set for the German driver to claim another remarkable victory in the wet to his collection.

Nico Rosberg was left disappointed with third place after matching his Mercedes teammate across the course of the practice, but he is still hopeful of matching his father’s tally of five wins in Formula 1. Fernando Alonso completes the second row in fourth place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

With rain threatening to shake up the pecking order once again in Malaysia, we appear to be in for a closely contested and exciting race.

Mercedes and Red Bull go head-to-head on track for the first time this season – who will come out on top?

Coverage begins at 3:30am ET. CLICK HERE to watch via the live stream.

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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.”