McLaren F1 Reveal the Launch of Completely Third Gen Simulator to Boost F1 Program

McLaren F1 are planning on creating a new generation Formula One simulator. According to Spanish news paper El Confidencial , their existing simulator was not state of the art. When driving for McLaren, Lewis Hamilton claimed that he could learn the same from a play station. The new simulator will be a brainchild of James Key, McLaren F1’s new technical director.

McLaren as a team have overhauled key leadership over the last couple of years. Key joined the team after the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. Team Principal Andreas Seidl joined the team in May 2019. Together, along with a talented driver line up, McLaren finished 4th in the constructors standing. A position most in the F1 world term as ‘Best of the Rest’ .

This is not enough for McLaren F1. The team is the second most successful in Formula One history. It’s usually fighting for championships. Since 2014, the team has been far from being a title contender. Now, they have finally started making the right strides forward. The new, third generation F1 simulator will be one of those many steps the team has to take.

According to Key, the new simulator is a complete departure from the old simulator used by McLaren. This is due to changes in technology. New features of the third generation simulator will include better representation of car models,  quicker processing and ability to add more dimensions. Key is hopeful that the simulator will be up and running by 2020.

Speaking about the upgrades that the third generation simulator brings, Key added:

“[The car] is multidimensional. There used to be a set of curves and it was a surface, now it’s loads of surfaces that all somehow interact. The same with tyres, same with certain aspects of the engine [and suspension]. The more processing power you get, the more you’re able to combine those effects and better replicate what the car does [on the track]”.

McLaren are bringing in a lot of expertise to help in the development of this new state of the art simulator. Formula E driver Oliver Turvey , Formula Two driver Sergio Sette Camara, and ‘The worlds fastest game’ winner, Rudy van Buren  are helping with the development of the simulator.

The eventual idea is to generate more processing power of the car and its feels. Key believes this can translate into better live performance, as the drivers have a better understanding of their machine.

However, the old one isn’t going anywhere. The old one is still good at its current task. Of course there are shortcomings which will be addressed in the next generation simulator. However, the old simulator will remain, as Keys believe it is still capable of providing effective results. But he  has acknowledged that the technology has moved on. This makes the development of the new simulator important for their future successes.

McLaren F1 scored 145 points during the 2019 season. It was enough for a 4th place in the championship. They returned to the podium for the first time since 2014. It’s hopefully a start for McLaren to return to championship contention.