Nico Rosberg believes his old Mercedes F1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton is at a disadvantage to Max Verstappen and others because he doesn’t do one thing that most of his rivals do away from the racetrack
Lewis Hamilton may be the most decorated driver in Formula 1 history, but one thing he doesn’t do is partake in sim racing. But his former team-mate Nico Rosberg has urged the Brit to take it up as a hobby to help in his quest for an eighth drivers’ title.
It has become an increasingly common pastime of F1 drivers in recent years. Few people want to do something so similar to their day job when they get home but most of the younger drivers on the grid are all in the habit of taking part in virtual races from the comfort of their own homes.
But one notable exception is Hamilton who uses simulators as little as he possibly can. His usage has increased since joining Ferrari as it is a useful took for him to get used to their machinery but, back in 2021, he estimated that he used Mercedes’ sim for around “20 laps per year”.
Rosberg, who was his Silver Arrows team-mate for four seasons, believes Hamilton would benefit from spending more time racing online. “I’ve come to think that it’s helpful for your performance here on the race track,” he said during the Sky Sports broadcast at the Spanish Grand Prix.
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“It’s something where someone like Lewis Hamilton, who’s still old-school and doesn’t do any of that stuff, I think maybe we’re at the point now where it’s a disadvantage. Someone like Lewis should just get into it, really, because you practice your skills then constantly, every day.”
Max Verstappen in particular is a regular participant in virtual races, having even taken part during real-life F1 weekends in the past, and the Dutchman owns and runs a sim racing outfit, Team Redline. Lando Norris is another who has taken part in sim races in the past, while F1 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto also regularly races online.
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Responding to Rosberg, his Sky Sports colleague Anthony Davidson gave an example of how Norris recently used his sim racing experience to make performance gains in real life. He said: “The first time I saw this on track was Lando Norris, Bahrain, turn four.
“He started to use the outside kerb before turning in, because it’s a flat painted kerb and it’s something on the sim that you can explore with, experiment. And he put it into practice and, you watch this year, everyone uses that painted bit of tarmac. It’s a sim thing.”
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And Rosberg replied: “More than those details, I wonder if it just hones your skills and mental reaction speed, it keeps the practice going. But someone like Lewis goes home then, does nothing remotely to keep his speed of processing going, practicing that.
“Everybody else, the young guys, they go home from the race weekend and they’re straight on the sim for hours. Of course, it’s a similar skill requirement and I’m convinced that it’s starting to make a difference.”