New Formula 1 owner open to idea of night race in Las Vegas - MotorSportsTalk

Formula 1’s new owner, Liberty Media, has expressed an interest in staging a night race in Las Vegas as part of a drive to expand the number of races on the sport’s calendar.

Liberty confirmed in September that it had struck a deal with F1’s current majority shareholder, CVC, to take over the series in a deal that will be completed in 2017.

Liberty’s arrival has led to suggestions of the current 21-race calendar expanding in the coming years, including the possible addition of more races in the United States.

Speaking in a conference earlier this week, Liberty chief executive Greg Maffei said there was scope for the number of races in a season to grow before highlighting Las Vegas an area of interest.

“There is a general line of interest if you increase the number of races to a point. The FIA makes more money, the teams make more money, we make more money,” Maffei said, as quoted by Reuters.

“Obviously there is a limit on how much you can do. Just getting the cars around the world, but I think we can expect to grow the amount of races to a mild degree.

“I particularly like the idea of a night race in Las Vegas.”

The idea of hosting a grand prix in Las Vegas has been raised before in recent years, with F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone confirming talks earlier this year before saying that he was “struggling a little bit” to strike a deal.

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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.”