Can drivers use their own Sim setup to test 2026 car features?

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Title says it all basically.

Is there anything to stop the drivers using a home sin racing setup to test out, or at least get used to, the new 2026 spec cars.

I'm thinking particularly of the demands of the new energy recovery/deployment systems.

Obviously a home setup, even for the likes of Max et al, isn't going to come close to the full driver-in-loop systems they have in the factories, but would it need to be for that?

[Stea1th]

Yes.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the likes of Max already has a mod with similar characteristics.
RSS makes a mod already of the 2026 car with its unique features.

https://store.racesimstudio.com/p/fhx-v12r/

[basti313]

That was one of my main questions when talking about engine and car rules...pecking order...are there any open simulations? It would be very interesting to see how the energy management behaves to assess the impact of the engine and energy saving.

For the drivers: All top drivers commented around August this year about their experience with the 26 setup. So the teams have their rigs running the 26 cars already. I see no reason why someone like Max should not be able to have a similar rig at home, still I doubt it makes sense at this point. You need an engineer in the background to extract, to not just go into a wrong direction.
Ham said he wants to start one month ahead of the shakedown with the season prep. I bet this is when he will be a lot in the sim, which will be quite far developed by the sim drivers until then.

[Mogster]

Hamilton has commented on his sim experiences with the 2026 car this week. He’s clearly at least given it a go.

I assume this will be at work though. He’s never seemed very interested in sim racing as entertainment.

[FittingMechanics]

Hamilton has commented on his sim experiences with the 2026 car this week. He’s clearly at least given it a go.

I assume this will be at work though. He’s never seemed very interested in sim racing as entertainment.

What did he say?

[Mattchu]

"I think it's really, really hard to predict what it's going to be like. I don't want to say too many negative things. It feels so much different and I'm not sure you're going to like it,” he said.

"But maybe I'll be surprised and maybe it'll be amazing. Maybe overtaking will be incredible. Maybe it'll be easier to overtake. I don't know."

His caution deepened when he considered how the new balance of downforce and torque might play out in difficult conditions.

"We have less downforce, more torque,” he explained. “Driving in the rain, I can imagine it's going to be very, very, very tough. Much harder than it is already with what we have today."

"Whether you'll like the fact that we're downshifting on the straight and different boost parameters... But it is a massive challenge for us all and I think that's really what the sport is about.

“It's about continuously challenging ourselves. If we just did the same thing all the time, it would be easy."

[CHT]

My guess is that energy recovery strategy will play a big part in 2026 and there will be different strategy for every track.
I think driver should have already done their testing and understanding on simulator.

I have a feeling that younger drivers will have some advantages due to their ability to pick up new tricks faster.

[Mogster]

Hamilton has commented on his sim experiences with the 2026 car this week. He’s clearly at least given it a go.

I assume this will be at work though. He’s never seemed very interested in sim racing as entertainment.

What did he say?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lewi ... /10782262/

[Richard C]

Is there anything to stop the drivers using a home sin racing setup to test out, or at least get used to, the new 2026 spec cars.

Short answer... They could do it.

Long answer... Not worth the squeeze. I think there can be some complications. What is the expectation and need as to the "accuracy" of the experience? Mentioned in an earlier post is the availability of a mod that provides the 2026 experience. Assuming that is a good implementation, at best it would be a generic experience. Each team's car is going to have their own unique vehicle dynamics and proprietary "secret sauce" for their hybrid solution. I say a generic solution will such a have limited usefulness for current drivers that it would be a pointless exercise. Especially given the teams already have simulators for this purpose. Just make time to run the team's simulator!

If the teams try to provide custom solutions for high end consumer sims (such as drivers may have), which can then provide a much more accurate experience, then the cost for that work must be tracked as part of the cap. If you want to be pedantic, having a third party (even a driver) provide external sim services (cost of hardware, maintenance, etc. even if minimal) without a chargeback to the team would likely be against cap rules. Would all of that be money well spent? Probably not?

Richard

[AR3-GP]

I say a generic solution will such a have limited usefulness for current drivers that it would be a pointless exercise. Especially given the teams already have simulators for this purpose. Just make time to run the team's simulator!

If the teams try to provide custom solutions for high end consumer sims (such as drivers may have), which can then provide a much more accurate experience, then the cost for that work must be tracked as part of the cap. If you want to be pedantic, having a third party (even a driver) provide external sim services (cost of hardware, maintenance, etc. even if minimal) without a chargeback to the team would likely be against cap rules. Would all of that be money well spent? Probably not?

Richard

1) Team simulator is located at factory, which is quite far from home
2) Yes it would have to be tracked in the budget cap, but if it improves driver performance then it's money well spent.

[Richard C]

1) Team simulator is located at factory, which is quite far from home
2) Yes it would have to be tracked in the budget cap, but if it improves driver performance then it's money well spent.

If they are serious, dedicating time for this (vs messing around), and wanting to be "really" productive... Then just spend the time to travel and use the factory simulators vs trying to cobble (and support) a facsimile at their homes. Also, we are talking about the relatively short period of time between now and when drivers actually are in the real 2026 cars which is around 45 days (Jan 26th). I think I read a report that one of the teams actively didn't want their drivers in the 2026 simulator so they could continue to focus on the 2025 season. In short, I would argue it's not money or time well spent.

Richard

[WardenOfTheNorth]

My thinking is not so much in terms of the handling of the new cars, but the energy deployment strategies. Surely the more time drivers are able to spend learning how to use those, the better?

As to Richard's point about the cost cap, that's exactly the sort of grey area I wondering whether this falls into.

[PlatinumZealot]

Title says it all basically.

Is there anything to stop the drivers using a home sin racing setup to test out, or at least get used to, the new 2026 spec cars.

I'm thinking particularly of the demands of the new energy recovery/deployment systems.

Obviously a home setup, even for the likes of Max et al, isn't going to come close to the full driver-in-loop systems they have in the factories, but would it need to be for that?

Yeah. But it wouldn't be anywhere close to accruate. Too many factors in the energy management that even the engine and chassis engineers are still working on until the first race free practice.