Image courtesy of @Max33Verstappen
While the doubts of Verstappen’s talents are waning, the question remains – how? How can a teenager challenge the best drivers in the world – a field full of past champions and decades of experience? The obvious answer to most F1 pundits is that the modern F1 cars are simply easier to drive.
But are they? F1 cars are more complex than ever before. People can’t even decide what to call a F1 engine anymore, as the “engine” consists of an internal combustion engine (what most people think of when they hear the word “engine”), batteries, energy recovery units, electrical generators, and millions of lines of software. The F1 steering wheel contains enough adjustable settings to boggle the minds of even the most technically adept.
And we can’t forget driver aides. Traction control has been outlawed for many years. The cars now run 8-speed transmissions which require hundreds of shifts per lap. No traction control and high torque outputs from the modern “engines” make wheel-spin more difficult to manage than possibly quite some time in F1 history.
In other words, it’s far more likely F1 cars in 2015 are harder to drive than quite possibly any time in F1 history. The days of simply jumping in the cars and driving are long gone. Driving a modern F1 car requires months of technical study to understand the hundreds of adjustable parameters necessary to maximize lap time.
That leads us back to the original question – but how? The answer? Simulators. But, not just the simulators that the F1 teams have spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing. Instead, the simulators that have made the biggest difference are likely to cost somewhere in the $60 range and are available in most retail stores.
That’s right. Video games. Gran Turismo. Forza. rFactor. iRacing. All the officially licensed F1 games, especially the recent ones from Codemasters. That’s right. Video games.
Prior to the invention of realistic driving simulators, there was only one way to learn a new circuit, a new car, or the art of driving a racing car – by actually doing it on a real track in a real race car. In short, any sort of realistic driving experience required a team of individuals to prepare the car and enough money to pay this small army of people. This experience was, not surprisingly, in short supply and difficult to obtain. Now, all one needs is a few hundred bucks and some spare time and they’re zipping around the Nordschleife in the most exotic of cars, even theoretical ones designed by none other than Adrian Newey.
The advantages of video games don’t end there. In a video game, there is no risk. If you dip a few wheels in the grass, no big deal. Slight contact with the barrier, only a second lost. Massive end-over-end crash because you tried a new line and carried to much speed into the corner? Well that just makes for a spectacular replay that you post to YouTube for all your friends to see.
Max Verstappen may be the first of the “Simulation Generation”, but he won’t be the last. In fact, he represents the new norm, race car drivers that know a circuit inside and out before ever setting foot on it. Competing with this generation will require embracing simulation technology as much as they have. Some current F1 drivers have expressed great disdain for simulators. They are the ones now faced with the decision, embrace change, or make way for the next generation.
