Hamilton laser-focused on victory after historic Brazilian GP pole - MotorSportsTalk

Lewis Hamilton’s assault on the Formula 1 record books continues this weekend through qualifying for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix, but his immediate focus now shifts to retaining his World Championship crown for a third consecutive season and fourth time overall.

The Mercedes AMG Petronas driver won his 60th career pole position on Saturday, which means he’s only the third driver in F1 history to achieve that plateau. Michael Schumacher has the all-time record with 68 and the late Ayrton Senna has 65.

Meanwhile a win for Hamilton on Sunday would be his 52nd of his career, breaking a tie with Alain Prost at 51, which he equalled with his win two weeks ago in Mexico.

The records are nice but a win is also the only thing that will keep his title hopes alive for 2016. He enters Sunday’s race down 19 points to teammate Nico Rosberg, and if Rosberg wins the race, it’s game over for the title. Rosberg has won in Brazil the last two years.

So Hamilton has to secure his first Brazilian Grand Prix win, and add this circuit to the list of those he’s won on (he’s only not won at Interlagos and Baku among the 21 circuits on the 2016 calendar), to keep his title alive.

Compared to his seemingly laid-back attitude in the American rounds in Austin and Mexico City, Hamilton was very much steely-eyed and laser-focused on the task at hand during the post-qualifying press conference.

“I don’t remember every single qualifying session we’ve had. I felt quite comfortable in qualifying as I have all through the weekend. Nico has been getting quicker, but I’ve had him covered through the weekend,” Hamilton said.

“It’s remarkable when you think about what we’ve done with this team to have as many poles,” he added, noting Mercedes has now achieved its 19th pole in 20 races, a new F1 record for any team.

“It’s a true sign of teamwork. It’s the best possible outcome… only my second pole here, it’s a track I’ve really struggled with, so happy to be at the front.”

Hamilton also said he was “ready for whatever” weather conditions may come. Although he’s not won a race here, he did famously secure his first of his three World Championships here in the rain in 2008.

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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.”