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5 ways sim racing can make you a better racing driver
Top sim racing squad Team Redline explain how experience in the virtual world is making the likes of Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon faster on track.
The Belgian Grand Prix in 2015 witnessed one of the greatest overtaking moves in F1 history, with Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen toughing it out around the outside of Felipe Nasr’s Sauber at the fearsome Blanchimont corner.
What the punters watching the race didn’t know, however, was that Verstappen had pulled off the exact same move one week before the grand prix started; the only difference was that he’d done it on iRacing, one of the leading racing sims, while practising with his Team Redline sim racing squad stable-mate Atze Kerhof. Witness…
That Blanchimont move was certainly the most high-profile case of skills being brought through from the virtual racing world to the very highest levels of motorsport. But is it something we’re going to see a lot more of, and can virtual racing really turn you into a better driver on the track? We spoke to Dom Duhan – manager of Team Redline, one of the world's top sim racing squads – and team driver Graham Carroll to find out why more and more pro racing drivers are turning to sim racing to give them an edge.
1. You gain experience on tracks
The technology used to model tracks on racing sims is extremely advanced these days. Laser scanning of tracks, as used in sims like iRacing and rFactor 2, has meant that every bump, camber change and kerb can be replicated in the game exactly as it is in real life. And that means that drivers can head into the real-life first practice session of a race weekend knowing exactly where they can gain an advantage.
When the drivers go on track, they've got limited time and they're going to hit their marks straight away
“You can go on iRacing or rFactor 2 and you can learn how to take a kerb so that when the car hits it and lands back on track, it doesn't unsettle it enough to lose you time,” says Duhan. “You absolutely can learn how to take certain corners so that you gain maximum speed, that's tried and tested. And I think that that's where it's a real benefit, because when the drivers go on track, they've got limited time and they're going to hit their marks straight away.”
2. You learn consistency
Many people still have an ‘arcade’ mentality when they play a racing game, sliding cars around, punting people off the track and treating the virtual world as a bit of fun. But by applying yourself seriously to sim racing, says Graham Carroll, you can learn one of the most vital skills in racing – consistency.
Be consistent over 10 laps instead of doing three rubbish ones and then a couple of quick ones
“A lot of kids just jump on and start pushing people out and having a bit of fun,” he says, “whereas you can develop your skills if you actually take it a bit more seriously and think about doing your stints like you do in real life; being consistent over 10 laps instead of doing three rubbish ones and then maybe a couple of quick ones and then going back to being slow.”
You'll also give your concentration a work out, according to Dom Duhan…
“If you drive for over 40 minutes, your concentration usually goes a bit off,” he says. “If you do enough race stints [in sim racing], then you're going to get good at managing your concentration. Just making sure you're in the zone all the time is a big part of sim racing. [Team Redline's drivers], when they go into testing, they'll do a tonne of laps, and that's just a good way of getting focus for the races. Because even the endurance races are full-on. You're hot lapping every lap – there's no letting off the pedal.”
3. You develop your race craft
As Max Verstappen showed at Spa in 2015, sim racing can help you drill exotic overtaking moves that would be impossible to practise otherwise (unless his then team-mate Carlos Sainz had been feeling particularly cooperative that weekend!). But it can also train you to get good at the less headline-grabbing stuff, like where to position your car in the first corner and how to fend off would-be attackers on track.
“It's race positioning, how to defend your line, how to make sure you're on the inside for a corner,” says Duhan. “How to slow the person behind you enough mid-corner so they don't get an exit to overtake you. It's all of that.”
4. It’s free! (Once you’ve paid for the software and the hardware)
While it’s true that some gamers use set-ups so expensive that they could have bought a racing car instead, once you’ve paid for all your hardware and software – and barring occasional purchases like downloadable content – that’s where the costs stop in sim racing. Compare that to owning and running a real racing car, where you have to pay to transport the car, store the car, insure the car, design and fit a fancy wrap, fuel it, buy tyres, buy parts, repair damage, pay for test days, pay race entry fees, pay mechanics… and the argument for racing virtually really starts to stack up.
“In motorsport, even in the last five years, money has become even more of a requirement,” says Duhan. “That's why, in a way, I find sim racing the purest form of motorsport, because anybody can take part and compete on the world stage; whereas even with all the talent in the world, you need a pretty big bank balance to really make it in a serious way [as a racing driver]."
Sim racing is even starting to infiltrate that most affordable of motorsports, karting. rFactor 2’s new KartSim DLC provides a stunningly accurate karting simulator for up-and-coming racers to hone their skills on. But don't take our word for it…
“I've driven a lot of karting sims before and they're pretty rubbish," says Graham Carroll. "But this thing is spot on. Going to a track on that simulator and then jumping into a kart, you'd just be on the pace instantly, without a doubt. It just saves you learning corners, getting into the rhythm a bit – it stops that first session being a bit of a waste. I think the sim's an awesome tool to keep sharp.”
Max Verstappen has been the best advert for sim racing's efficacy
© GEPA pictures/Red Bull Content Pool
5. You can drive as much as you like
Formula One teams are now extremely limited in the amount of test days they can do, meaning that drivers are needing to find other ways to stay on top of their game. And while traditionally, drivers used go karts to maintain their reactions – Ayrton Senna even had his own karting track built at his ranch in Brazil – increasingly top drivers are having sim racing set-ups installed in their homes.
“It's about staying sharp,” says Duhan. “With limited testing time nowadays, driving on a laser-scanned track with some of the top simulations, you can get pretty close to what you'll actually be driving on track.
“The more time the up-and-coming drivers spend in sims, the sharper they're going to get, in every area. The only thing that they don't have necessarily is the physicality. But certainly in terms of the concentration for extended periods of time, managing the cars, tyres, learning every inch of the track and also learning how to work as a team – these are critical skills that every modern race driver will need.
“Nowadays," adds Duhan, "the differences between the drivers are so minuscule that to really shine, you need to use everything.”
