Sainz handed Germany grid drop for blocking Massa - MotorSportsTalk

Carlos Sainz Jr. has been given a three-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix after blocking Felipe Massa during Q2 on Saturday at Hockenheim.

Sainz qualified 13th for Toro Rosso, finishing three-tenths of a second off Massa who was the final driver to make it through to Q3 for Williams.

However, Massa was forced to abandon one of his flying laps during Q2 after coming across a slow-moving Sainz at Turn 2.

Sainz tried to get out of the way late on, taking to the grass at the inside of Turn 2, but the damage had been done.

Massa complained to Williams over the radio before race control confirmed it would be investigating the matter after the session.

The FIA stewards in Germany confirmed soon after qualifying that Sainz would drop three places on the grid for Sunday’s race, leaving him 16th for Toro Rosso.

Sainz also received two penalty points on his FIA super licence for the incident, taking him up to four for the 12-month period.

Sainz will still be the highest-starting Toro Rosso in Germany after teammate Daniil Kvyat could only qualify 19th. The Russian will rise to 18th on the grid by virtue of Romain Grosjean’s gearbox penalty.

The German Grand Prix is live on NBCSN and the NBC Sports app from 7am ET on Sunday.

Carlos Sainz, sancionado con tres puestos en la parrilla y dos puntos en el carnet. #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/9MMfSQbAi9

— Movistar F1 (@movistar_F1) July 30, 2016

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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.”