Daniel Ricciardo will return as Red Bull Racing’s official third driver in 2023, but Verstappen says he wants to sit in the simulator himself and adapt it to his driving style.
F1 teams rely on virtual simulators at the factory due to the many restrictions on testing their F1 cars officially on track.
This state-of-the-art simulator is far more advanced than the sim rigs used by Twitch streamers, and can often be used to try out new setups and gain more insight into the race weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo returned to Red Bull Racing as third driver for 2023 after failing to secure a full-time race seat on the F1 grid, and part of his role included running laps in the simulator at the same time as conducting tire tests. It includes counting the number of times.
However, Verstappen has made it clear to Speedweek that although he has Daniel Ricciardo at his disposal, he prefers to do the preparation work himself.
“Our simulator is one of the best in the sport,” said Daniel Ricciardo.
“Those days are very long, but they are definitely worth it.”
“Also, I don’t want to leave the simulator sessions to test drivers like other teams do. I want to do it myself, because everyone has their own driving style.”
Max Verstappen also has a Simrig at home. He recently showed it when he took part in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he had to abandon due to connectivity issues.
“Mainly it helps me stay focused. I can’t do anything else when I’m home and I enjoy sim racing.”
Category: F1 / Max Verstappen / red bull / Daniel Ricardo