“Max Verstappen does sim racing because it helps him”- Former World Champion feels simulators give young F1 drivers an advantage over veterans

1996 World Champion Damon Hill feels that taking part in simulator racing gives drivers like Max Verstappen an advantage.

Sim racing is a big thing today, not just for motorsport fans but for the athletes as well. Plenty of drivers in F1 and other series take part in various e-racing events.

The likes of Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are all very active sim racers. They have taken part in global events like the virtual Indy 500 and the Virtual Le Mans. Verstappen in particular is one of the best sim racers in the world in certain events.

Some of the older drivers on the other hand, are not fans of virtual racing. F1 legends like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have often expressed their distaste towards being on the simulator, even when they’re at their team factories preparing for races.

Hill feels that the veterans’ apprehension towards using the simulator to their advantage, is what gives the younger drivers an edge over them in F1 today.

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Drivers like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris doing sim racing helps team engineers

During an episode of F1 Nation Podcast, Hill explained how the young guns of F1 doing sim racing can help their team with strategies and set ups. On top of that, it gives them a competitive mindset and sharpness, that the older drivers lack.

“I wonder whether there’s something about that nature of Formula 1 these days,” the former Williams driver said. “Which is helping a younger generation of drivers, because I think they’ve been used to playing computer games.”

“And I think there’s something about the way the cars can be driven,” he continued. “Using different parts of the brain. It’s more to do with the signals they’re getting are more eye to hand, rather than through the seat of their pants, they’re able to respond to what they’re seeing. I don’t think Daniel was one of those, that generation.”

“And so that potentially opens up a different setup possibility for engineers. “So they can go from optimum setup, which perhaps doesn’t give the feel to the old school drivers as much.”

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• Damon Hill
• Lando Norris
• Max Verstappen