Hamilton says skipping simulator sessions is the way forward after Friday qualifying

Lewis Hamilton says his strong showing in qualifying for the Montreal sprint race justified his choice to skip simulator sessions before the weekend.

Hamilton topped the first segment of qualifying and was second in the second phase, before finishing fifth in the final shoot-out for pole. Despite not taking pole, he was pleased with the result and believes his decision to avoid Ferrari’s simulator helped his performance.

“That was probably the best qualifying session we’ve had for some time,” Hamilton said. “Great work with the engineers, the setup changes were right and the car felt fantastic from practice. We made just subtle changes going into quali.

“SQ1 and SQ2 looked good and then, for some reason, others managed to find a bit more. I’m just happy to be in the fight — I was having so much fun out there.

“Also the fact that I didn’t do the sim, and I feel it’s the best I’ve felt all year, so I think that’s the way forward for me.”

Hamilton explained that earlier in the week he decided not to rely on the simulator as part of his preparation.

“The sim is amazing,” he said. “It’s an incredible tool and the best I’ve seen, with a great group of people behind it. A day in the sim can be very productive. Since I joined, I’ve contributed to its evolution and the team have been responsive, making lots of improvements.”

He described his long experience with simulators, dating back to the late 1990s, and how his relationship with them has changed over the years.

“I started in 1997 with McLaren’s first simulator. The cockpit didn’t move but we had force feedback in the steering. Later generations came along and I used them sometimes when I was in GP2. At McLaren we used the sim fairly often, but I didn’t always enjoy the long days and repeated laps — at a point you stop learning for me personally.

“When I joined Mercedes the sim was not as advanced, and during many championship years I rarely used it. From around 2020 or 2021 I began using it more. In two decades of racing there was really only one time the simulator setup matched exactly what we used in qualifying and delivered pole — Singapore in 2012, I think. Other times it’s been helpful but not perfect. Still, it’s a powerful tool.”

Although he used Ferrari’s simulator more frequently last year, Hamilton said he often performs better when he focuses directly on track data rather than relying on simulated runs.

“Since last year I used it every week, and more often than not you find a setup you’re comfortable with in the sim, then arrive at the track and things are the opposite. You end up undoing what you did on the sim. Sometimes the approach to corners needs changing; a setup that worked in the simulator isn’t always the same on track. It’s hit and miss.

“So for this weekend I decided to sit the sim out and focus on the data: deep dives into through-corner balance, mechanical balance, corner approaches, brake balance and optimising the brakes, which have been an issue for me. That led to really good integration with my engineers.”

He stopped short of abandoning the simulator entirely.

“I’m not saying I’ll never use it again. It’s something we’ll continue to use, particularly for power deployment. But often after a weekend you work on correlation and then at the next track it can be slightly off. We’ll see how it goes — in China, for example, I didn’t do the sim and it was my best weekend.”

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