– Simulators are among the most important tools for teams in modern Formula 1. Nevertheless, record world champion Lewis Hamilton has announced that he will deliberately not train in the Ferrari simulator before the next Grand Prix in Canada.
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“I will take a different approach at the next race because the way we are currently preparing is not working,” said Hamilton after the Miami Grand Prix, where he finished sixth on Sunday.
The reason for his difficult weekend was, according to his own statement, a poor start on Friday. Hamilton started FT1 with a setup that did not work. “During the preparation phase for this race, I was in the simulator every week,” the Brit reveals.
He reports: “I was constantly working on the correlation. You get in [the simulator], prepare for the track, drive it, and set the car to a certain point – and then you get to the track and this setup does not work.”
“I generally don’t like simulators,” emphasizes Hamilton and explains that the car felt “different” on Friday than it did before in the simulator. This was especially a problem because Miami was a sprint weekend and there was only one practice session.
Hamilton: It worked without a simulator in China too
“Ideally, I should have started where Charles was at the beginning of the weekend,” says Hamilton about his teammate Charles Leclerc, who set the fastest time in the only practice on Friday, while he himself was fourth with almost half a second behind.
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This picture was confirmed later in the day in the sprint qualifying, where Hamilton was again almost four tenths slower than Leclerc. In qualifying on Saturday, he got a bit closer to his teammate, but according to his own statement, that was only damage control after his poor start.
Photo gallery: Miami: Driver ratings by Marc Surer and the editorial team
“Overall,” he was satisfied with the car, emphasizes Hamilton and explains that he probably “would have had a stronger weekend” if he had not started with the wrong setup on Friday. “So I will not train in the simulator for the next race,” he therefore announces.
“When we traveled to China, I had the best weekend,” recalls the seven-time world champion and reveals that he had not been in the simulator before the race in Shanghai, where he achieved his only podium so far.
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He will “continue to attend meetings at the factory and so on,” he emphasizes. But he will deliberately not get into the simulator.
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