Heidfeld and Senna confirmed at Mahindra for second Formula E season - MotorSportsTalk

DONINGTON PARK – Mahindra Racing has confirmed that Nick Heidfeld will race for the team in the second FIA Formula E season alongside the retained Bruno Senna.

Heidfeld raced for Venturi in season one, scoring one podium finish en route to 12th place in the drivers’ championship.

However, the German driver opted to cut ties with the team at the end of the season and join Mahindra after a successful private test for the Indian team in Spain.

“Yeah, very happy,” Heidfeld told MotorSportsTalk. “Looking forward to the season of course. I think Mahindra has done a good job, good preparation with the changes they have done for season two.

“But at the moment it is all guessing. We will all be here at Donington testing for the first time together, and the proper results we will probably only have after Beijing, after race one.

“I’m excited and I’m looking forward to it and I’m hoping of course to be very successful. The technical package and all the little puzzle parts, you think about and are important in motorsport, speaking to various teams, I believe that Mahindra can be the best choice.”

Heidfeld was welcomed to the team by boss Dilbagh Gill, who was impressed by the German’s efforts during testing in Spain in the off-season.

“I am very proud to welcome Nick to the Mahindra Racing family,” Gill said. “He brings a wealth of experience to the team and we were impressed with his performances in the inaugural Formula E season.

“Nick has also been an integral part of testing the M2Electro with our team. Mahindra Racing is targeting top results this season and with over 2,000km of pre-season testing successfully completed, we are confident we are giving Nick the car to do it.

“We have been particularly impressed with how quickly he has got up to speed with the technical aspects of the car, as well as the gains we have made in its refinement since he joined us.”

Heidfeld replaces Karun Chandhok at Mahindra, who has left Formula E to concentrate on sportscar racing.

Pre-season testing kicks off at Donington Park on Monday, with both Heidfeld and Senna set to get behind the wheel of the Mahindra car.

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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.”