Force India F1 keen to keep Perez, Ocon for 2018 despite clashes - MotorSportsTalk

Force India is aiming to retain both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon for the 2018 Formula 1 season despite multiple on-track clashes as teammates this year.

Incidents between Perez and Ocon in Montreal, Baku and Budapest were not enough to prevent a fourth coming-together of the season during the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago, costing Force India a decent haul of points.

The team’s management looked dimly on the clash, introducing new rules of engagement for the following race at Monza in order to prevent its drivers racing against one another on-track.

However, Force India remains keen to keep both Perez and Ocon on its books for next season given it is currently heading towards matching its best-ever finish of fourth in the constructors’ championship.

“I think from our side we are fully committed to retaining them both, and that will be our objective. There’s no question of that,” Force India deputy chief Bob Fernley said.

“But, you know, driver markets are driver markets, and it’s quite right and proper that their managers, and in particular Checo’s manager, is out looking at other programs.

“He’s got to keep us on our toes. If he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be doing his job, and we’ve got to make sure that we close that off and retain him for next year and keep the pairing.

“It’s a phenomenally exciting pairing. Might be difficult to control a little bit, but I’d like to have that problem.”

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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.”