Hamilton happy to see Bottas prove F1 critics wrong - MotorSportsTalk

Lewis Hamilton is pleased that new Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Valtteri Bottas has proven many of his critics wrong since joining the team, believing the Finn to be a “credible competitor”.

Bottas was drafted in by Mercedes for the 2017 season following Nico Rosberg’s shock retirement from F1 just five days after clinching his maiden world championship.

Bottas scored a podium finish on debut for the team and took his first pole in Bahrain, but shot to the top of the rostrum last time out in Russia to claim his maiden grand prix victory.

The result did much to dispel suggestions that Bottas would be playing second-fiddle to Hamilton at Mercedes through 2017, with the Briton happy to see his teammate prove his critics wrong.

“Of course he’s a credible competitor, he was when he joined,” Hamilton said.

“I think it was many of you and perhaps people who are fans, whatever, came with preconceived ideas of how he was going to perform.

“He’s proved everyone wrong so fair play to him and he’s going to remain a competitor through the rest of the year so the fight will go on.

“We’ve stated our relationship with a really great foundation I think, a respectful foundation and I think that will continue.”

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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.”