Anthony Davidson, who is Mercedes’ simulator driver revealed a key difference between himself and F1 drivers when they get behind the virtual wheel. According to Davidson, F1 drivers focus on their driving style in adherence to the car’s setup and potential. Simulator drivers like himself, however, focus on only one thing- the development of the car. Simulator drivers play a key role behind the scenes. The work they put in helps engineers of a particular team understand where their car stands (performance-wise) at a given point in time. Hence, the data they send back directly shapes up the real-life car F1 drivers drive. In the Sky Sports F1 podcast , Davidson told Matt Baker, “It’s all about the lap times. They come in to gain knowledge for their own performance. And rightly so. When I go there, it’s 100% for the team. I put my ego outside when I go into the sim room.” Davidson regards F1 drivers as competitive beasts. Within the Mercedes camp itself, the amount of competition between drivers is very high. While
Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world champion, his teammate, George Russell has been earmarked as champion of the future. This tussle between the drivers in terms of guiding the set-up and development of the car towards their own needs has on more than one occasion been a pain point for Mercedes in the recent past. How Lewis Hamilton’s Bahrain experiment failed Mercedes Hamilton and Russell may be cordial as teammates, but they are both incredibly competitive. For instance, during the Bahrain GP, to finish ahead of Russell on the weekend, the 39-year-old revealed that he had decided to run a different set-up to his teammate’s. In the end, however, the Briton lamented the decision. Hamilton argued that he wanted to sacrifice single-lap pace for a better shot at the
Grand Prix and hence, he sacrificed his qualifying pace. In the end, however, Hamilton finished 7th, five seconds behind Russell. Last year too, Mercedes faced a lot of difficulties because Hamilton and Russell wanted to try different things to get the better of one another. Hamilton even admitted that his set-up choices were rarely slower than his teammate’s. That being said, as Anthony Davidson explained, a team’s development can only be seamless when there is unbiased feedback coming the way of engineers. When conflicting feedback is received from the drivers, the team is unable to maximize the performance of the car throughout a season.