Susie Wolff gets comfortable with new Williams chassis after Wednesday test - MotorSportsTalk

There was a fair bit of discussion – and posts – about Simona de Silvestro’s maiden running in the 2012 Sauber chassis a couple weeks ago, which marked the Swiss driver’s first time in a Formula One car.

The other female seeking to make it into F1 – Williams test driver Susie Wolff – was on track Wednesday in the Barcelona test. She completed 55 laps in her first day of running in the FW36 chassis.

“With last year’s car the harder you pushed the faster you went, but now you have to manage certain elements a lot more,” she explained, via the team’s official website. “The cars also have a lot more torque which was a steep learning curve, and this caught me out at the beginning of the session.”

Still, Wolff made gains as she focused on aero and mechanical elements. Her best time was fifth on the day at 1:27.280.

Chief test and support engineer Rod Nelson said Wolff did well to get acclimated.

“We had a very productive day today, with Susie performing some aero test work and control systems testing and we completed our planned testing program on schedule this morning,” he said, via the website. “The focus this afternoon was then on giving Susie the time in the car she needs to understand the intricacies of the FW36 and to get a feel for how the new look regulations have changed the car’s behavior.”

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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.”