Ferrari’s press service asked the team’s chief simulator engineer, Eric van der Veen, about the characteristics of the Las Vegas circuit and the preparations for the stage…
Q: Tell us about the difficulties of the Las Vegas circuit…
Erik van der Veen: The circuit in Las Vegas may seem simple at first glance, but it is not.
It looks like there are only five corners, but they are all at low speed, with large braking zones, and some corners are blind. High downforce and precise settings are needed to ensure that you can confidently slow down in braking zones from speeds of 340 km/h and take corners as quickly as possible.
The corners are followed by long straights, which have completely different requirements: minimal air resistance and low downforce. At the end of the straights there are again large braking zones, but at this point the brakes and tires have time to cool down, adding an extra level of difficulty for the riders. And all this on a walled city highway, where there is no room for error.
Las Vegas is located in the desert, the sessions take place at night, when the temperature drops very quickly, sometimes below 10 degrees, which complicates the task of preparing the tires – it is difficult to warm them up for a quick lap and keep the tires at the right temperature during long series, where they cool down quickly, causing problems for the drivers and teams who do not meet on other circuits.
Q: Last year you didn’t have all the information to do a full job, but the simulator was the only tool available to prepare for the Vegas stage. What has changed this year now that you have this information?
Erik van der Veen: Compared to 2023, the situation has completely changed. Last year the model used in the simulator was based on drawings, but now we have a full profile of the circuit, its asphalt properties and all the data from last year’s stage.
This means that the engineers, simulator driver and main drivers have many more opportunities to properly prepare for the weekend and determine the car settings in advance.
As with all events, Charles and Carlos trained in the simulator, optimizing their driving style and settings to achieve the best starting position and be prepared for conditions that may differ from those expected. This is where the simulator is an extremely powerful tool and training on it is very important as it allows drivers to optimize their driving style for a particular track.
Question: What do you work on with the simulator driver during track training?
Erik van der Veen: The driver understands how important it is to optimize every corner on a track where there are so few. Regular drivers have to trust the car to push the limits without going over them. Therefore, the simulator pilot will pay special attention to balance and control characteristics, sometimes even pushing the limits and hitting walls. Fortunately, on the simulator, the damage is not noticeable in any way, except for the landing gear recoil, which tells the pilot that he has hit something.
When we help the team on track, we use the laps completed during free practice, accurately reproducing the conditions and settings. This allows you to identify the car’s strengths and weaknesses and provide feedback to the team, who can change the settings on track.
We also use these sessions to get an idea of what to expect as the weather changes over the weekend: temperatures, wind direction and strength can change from day to day or even within the same session. By reproducing these weather conditions in the simulator, we can tell drivers what to expect, so they understand how to get the best out of their car before they take to the track.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
