Um, Luka's got a point...

[TheFamousEccles]

I'm not a fan of the Gent, however I feel he may have a big point in this.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111960

Discuss...

[zako85]

The simulators will not go away even with limited testing. After all, the drivers will never be allowed to test their cars on the actual GP circuits. The simulators are not test the cars. They're meant to gain familiarity with the race track.

[Tazio]

What I want to know is; why did he use the term "soccer"? Dude must be transfixed on the U.S. market

[Doc Austin]

The simulators are not test the cars. They're meant to gain familiarity with the race track.

You'de be surprised how good some of the racing video games are. Even the old Grand Prix Legends was very close to spot on for a lot of tracks. I'm sure the F1 simulators are mind blowing, but you are right that the cars probably drive a lot differently in real life.

It's also hard to believe that Ferrari never slips in a test at Fiorano either.

[AndyL]

So Luca thinks Red Bull have a better simulator than him

I guess it would be fair to swap simulators for testing if the teams that don't have their own test track get a $5m higher budget cap to compensate; I wonder what Luca would think of that idea.

I think the development of simulator technology has a lot more potential application to road car production than doing a million laps of Fiorano in an F1 car.

[Doc Austin]

None of this doesn't mean I wouldn't take the Ferrari simulator and put it in my garage if given the chance.

[David Lowndes]

The simulators will not go away even with limited testing. After all, the drivers will never be allowed to test their cars on the actual GP circuits. The simulators are not test the cars. They're meant to gain familiarity with the race track.

I think there is more to it than that. During the "spy scandal" McLaren were using Ferrari weight distribution data (amongst other data) in their simulator to understand how the Ferrari car differed from theirs.