F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Alfa Romeo 'working hard' to complete new simulator

Alfa Romeo Racing is doubling down on its efforts to complete its new state-of-the-art simulator at Hinwil after development work was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Swiss outfit invested heavily in the new piece of infrastructure at the end of 2019 with the hope that it would become an important development tool in 2020.

Unfortunately, the onslaught of COVID-19 derailed the timely completion of Sauber's new simulator.

"Unfortunately, this project was shelved because of the COVID crisis, the long plant shutdown, and some internal issues we had," Alfa technical director Jan Monchaux told Motorsport.com.

"We certainly lost three or four months on the development level [of the simulator]. We are now working extra hard to speed it up.

"We are slowly coming to a level where we hope it starts to come in handy."

Monchaux says he's confident the team's simulator will be up and running in time for the virtual development of Alfa's all-important 2022 car, but the Swiss insisted Sauber will not rush the completion of its sim.

"The 2021 car did not really benefit from the simulator, that’s for sure," he said.

"We must also be careful because if we jump too early on a tool that is not well calibrated and untrustworthy, we risk making some expensive decisions a year down the road on the new car.

"Instead, we plan to take it gradually, do a lot of correlation before and after the grands prix, mainly with the drivers, to build that confidence we need and, step by step, start using the tool to make decisions.

"Currently, it is not there yet. I hope the 2022 car will already benefit more from this new tool."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

29 mins ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

1 hour ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

2 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton continues on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the timesheets for the second time in Las…

3 hours ago

2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas,…

3 hours ago

Leclerc confident Ferrari ‘has a shot’ at F1 Constructors’ title

Charles Leclerc believes that Ferrari has a genuine “shot” at beating rival McLaren to Formula…

4 hours ago