There is a very love-hate relationship between Sim Racing and Lewis Hamilton. Aside from being the seven-time F1 world champion, Lewis Hamilton is also an avid fan of video games. Despite having a packed schedule, he indulges in gaming every now and then. The 39-year-old even has a portable PlayStation 5, SteamDeck, and other gaming equipment to play games while traveling throughout the season.
Being a F1 driver, it comes as no surprise that he will have some love for the racing games genre. He owns old-generation consoles to play classic racing games like Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II and Mario Kart. Despite his love for racing games and being a driver himself, he isn’t a fan of Sim Racing.
Sim Racing is a gaming genre where video games simulate motorsports. A lot of F1 drivers, like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, prefer Sim Racing in their free time, as it helps them improve their real-world performance. Even the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has dabbled in this unique genre of video games.
Unlike most F1 drivers, the seven-time world champion Hamilton isn’t a major fan of it. He doesn’t have any hate towards the genre, but he doesn’t like the virtual experience of driving. He once told The Race how his mind is there racing in such games but the body remains static. And him being a F1 racer, body language and engine feels play a huge role in their races which this genre fails to deliver. Thus the lack of patronage.
What is the Sim Racing challenge with Hamilton’s name on it?
Even though Lewis Hamilton puts no faith in Sim Racing, the genre did not forget him. A Sim Racing title, Gran Turismo features a time trial challenge with his name. This single-player game has the players beat the best lap times set by the Gran Turismo Sport Maestro and F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton. Moreover, the 39-year-old played the game to set the lap times for this in-game challenge.
This challenge was added to the game as additional content, and it was the first premium DLC for the 2017-released racing title. This DLC cost $7.99 and features ten challenges on pre-selected courses using cars like the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Sauber Mercedes C9 ’89. Beating the time challenges awarded fans with in-game credits.
However, it wasn’t an easy task to defeat the lap times set by a seven-time F1 world champion. One fan even challenged Lewis Hamilton to set the lap times again using a controller, as the Mercedes driver set these lap times using a steering wheel for Sim Racing.
