In the round-up: Mike Krack is impressed by Aston Martin’s under development simulator.
In brief
New simulator ‘like Star Wars’ – Krack
As Aston Martin continue to develop their facilities at their factory, team principal Mike Krack is encouraged by what he sees of the team’s new wind tunnel and simulator.
“We won’t begin seeing results the moment the tunnel goes live,” Krack said. “Like any new tool, you need to learn how to use it properly. It’s not a case of turning it on and instantly getting better results or greater fidelity. The first goal is to replicate the consistency and quality we get in our current tunnel. The target is to be at least as good as that. On its own, that isn’t easy because that tunnel has been developing for 20 years. After that we need to develop and keep developing.
“[The simulator]’s also been a huge undertaking, with a dedicated team pouring all of their experience into making it best-in-class. Like the wind tunnel, I go over to talk to everyone in an effort to increase my own understanding, and the simulator is just amazing. It’s going to improve our fidelity, improve the whole feedback loop the driver will have. I’ve seen a demo and I was absolutely blown away. It felt like being in Star Wars.”
Pirelli happy with ‘flexibility’ of new C6
Pirelli’s Mario Isola says he welcomes the options that the new C6 compound tyre for 2025 tested during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend will provide them when it comes to races at street circuits.“We have more and more street circuits on the calendar,” Isola said. “Having the flexibility to have a C6 could be useful.
“We are not obliged to select, let’s say, three consecutive compounds. So if we realise that, for example, the C6 could be good in some circuits, but close to the C5, we can also decide to nominate C3, C4, and C6 and skip one level. So this is giving us a bit more flexibility. We are going to discuss with the teams and with the FIA a draft allocation for next year, as we always do. And I’m happy to have this flexibility, honestly.”
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Links
Liam Lawson calls for NZ anthem to be played for McLaren victories (Radio New Zealand)
''It's a New Zealand team, the name is still McLaren. I have no idea. Red Bull play the Austrian national anthem and the team's based in the UK. McLaren's based in the UK, but it's a New Zealand team. It's completely bullshit, that's what it is. Especially if you're from New Zealand... because Bruce McLaren is an absolute legend.''
These are the new rules for the 2025 Formula 1 season (Red Bull)
'Trackside, all eyes turn to the 2025 title race, but behind the scenes the teams will be devoting considerable resources to preparing for the 2026 season. The biggest shift is a move to new engines which will be powered by 100 percent sustainable fuels and half their power will be from kinetic recovery systems. Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB F1 Team will meet the challenge by making their own engines for the first time in 20 years of racing. Red Bull Ford Powertrains is currently designing and refining the engines that will power the teams into a new era of F1. Last month, the FIA announced the 2026 season will open with three special, three-day tests for the new engines to help the teams get to grips with the new technology.'
Inside Mick Schumacher's struggle to live up superstar father Michael's name (Daily Mail)
'Arguably, Haas - a striving team always looking to tempt new sponsors into their garage - was one such party seduced by the 'Schumacher' of it all, and the driver - although a Formula Two champion - was expected to perform at a much higher level because of his background. But in 2024, there are few comparisons on the track between father and son beyond their similar looks and shared second name. At 25 years old, Schumacher Jnr is now perilously close to missing out on a drive as he goes into his peak competitive years. His father, decades earlier, was bathing in the glory of his first time at the top of the championship. '
After 16 years, Stewart-Haas prepares to go racing one final time (Racer)
'Smoke rises, but eventually, smoke disperses. As results became harder to achieve, so did the sponsorships and manufacturer support that underpin every successful program. Smoke (Tony Stewart) himself had already dispersed to a degree as this year began; his sprint car teams and NHRA program filling increasing amount of space in both his schedule and his heart that had previously been allocated to NASCAR. Then in May, he announced that Stewart Haas Racing will close down at the end of the year. After Sunday’s race in Phoenix, the team itself – the haulers, the cars, groups of personnel that in some cases have worked side-by-side for over a decade – will disperse as well.'
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
As a team, we were saddened to see the devastating effects of the recent floods in Southern and Eastern Spain.
We feel a strong connection to the region, with a large number of Spanish colleagues and the incredible support that is shown to the team from our Spanish fans.
We… pic.twitter.com/ra0gHy5ArU
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) November 10, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
This weekend’s Caption Competition winner is Wheel Nut!:
Oh no… Now I will be in trouble with the FIA for swearing during the pit stop…
Wheel Nut
Thanks to everyone who came up with caption ideas this week and a special mention to Rich Hi, RBAlonso, Stephen Crowsen and Red Andy who all came up with particularly good captions.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Brendan, Catalina, Drmouse and Ramatlhodi!
XM
11th November 2024, 0:48
For a rookie, Liam sure is sounding off a lot on a number of things.
User463
11th November 2024, 2:57
If you see how he says it during the podcast it’s a lot more lighthearted than it appears when in print.
anon
11th November 2024, 8:00
User463, as you say, it seems it was meant to be a bit more of a light hearted joke – it’s also not a great argument from Lawson given that, whilst named after Bruce, it was his co-founder, Teddy Mayer, who actually owned the majority of the team and played a significant part in the management of the team.
immortan feijoa
11th November 2024, 6:08
If a no-talent seat-warmer like Ben Sulaymen can shoot his mouth off whenever he wants, I don’t see why someone who actually contributes meaningfully to the sport should have to keep quiet.
MichaelN
11th November 2024, 12:17
Ben Sulayem is the most successful driver in the history of the Middle East Rally Championship. And of course he was elected by the vast majority of FIA members to his current job.
MichaelN
11th November 2024, 14:41
Realised that Nasser Al-Attiyah has since broken some of his records, but it was true before.
Roy Beedrill
12th November 2024, 4:59
You have to be a very naive person to think that at any elections only the most talented and best suited for the job people are being rightfully elected purely on their merits. ;-)
Maciek (@maciek)
11th November 2024, 3:58
Nice pick for the caption competition
Mooa42
11th November 2024, 5:36
I wonder if the new Aston Martin simulator can accurately replicate the consistency of gravel traps?
notagrumpyfan
11th November 2024, 6:38
Two Caption Competition winners on the same day.
Mayrton
11th November 2024, 14:37
Lol
Jere (@jerejj)
11th November 2024, 7:23
I’ve seen the Aston Martin simulator room before on YouTube, so I guess the same room isn’t in use anymore, but I like the Star Wars reference.
What’s Lawson on about? Just because the founder is a Kiwi doesn’t mean the team or McLaren the car manufacturer is also from New Zealand.
McLaren is and has always been a fully British car manufacturer. Regarding Red Bull, the factory location is irrelevant, just like with all other non-British teams based in the UK because each one’s first predecessor was already there, or Haas, as the UK is a more fitting location for global travel than the US, & motorsport industry is the biggest there.
MacLeod (@macleod)
11th November 2024, 8:10
As one who build the computers of that simulator (5 per simulator) I think it’s the same but the dome around it and VR so you get as if you are really there….
Jere (@jerejj)
11th November 2024, 8:27
By ‘as one’ do you imply that ‘you’ actually were involved in the simulator design process?
Lucky you, unless I’ve misinterpreted something, & nevertheless, 5 per simulator is quite a lot & something I’d never realized about these things despite having watched quite a few simulator videos over the years, mostly ones from the Red Bull Racing equivalent room, & even driven some myself, albeit none of them are F1 team ones, but still relatively state-of-the-art type.
Finally regarding VR, yes, it gives an even greater idea of actually driving, not that the same feeling can’t happen without it, especially when using moveable activators below the platform a la Red Bull Racing.
ndty
11th November 2024, 8:47
I used to work on some Formula 1 simulators and they typically use way more than 5 computers. If using a projection onto a curved screen, you will need 5-10 projectors (depending on diameter of screen, amount of overlap per projector you want etc), and at least one “image generator” PC running highest spec graphics cards per projector. Then there is the machine that runs the car model and physics, that requires a single high end machine. Then there are the multiple machines required to run the control and safety of the physical 6-degree of freedom simulator itself. If you are emulating any other effects, such as CAN bus (which the drivers steering wheels use) or additional sensors / elements in-the-loop then you also likely further machines on the network to enable those interface.
Of course, if a different projection is used or headset-based VR (which would be a huge step up, as getting head mounted VR to work whilst subjecting a driver to the frequency content of a formula 1 car is vomit inducing and I’ve never seen it done successfully so far), then 5 computers is perfectly possible, but is a very lean setup! (I have been out of it for a few years so things might have moved on alot in my time away).
MacLeod (@macleod)
12th November 2024, 8:05
@jerejj and ndty No I don’t designed the hardware as I only build the computers for it. Every year they became faster (CPU and GPU) but 5 computers is the bare minimum for the operation… When Max came visiting for a ‘home’ version it was too heavy for his floor of his appartement so he went for the simple version you see what he was using online.
So I have been and siting in the seat but the amount of sweat I generated for 1 lap of Spa as the unit generates still some g- forces (0,99 G) but is restricted as the floor would crumble. ( the F16 simulator they build for the RNL airforce had a huge room for the machine and could generator 3-4 G)
This is the farest I came in a moving F1 :)
Not all F1 teams uses this system ofcourse as I am not allowed to say which teams but you can see the system in Ferrari World in action (that is the entertainment version)
And for ndty those 5 is only for the operation of the hydraulics and there are many other computers you can add as you said with projections and VR.
As I have seen it work from the beginning setup with 3 monitors towards a dome and the lastest the VR (and for the future a kind of holodeck ………. Maybe that was he hinting about)
Jere (@jerejj)
12th November 2024, 8:46
@macleod – I didn’t imply you were doing anything other than what you referred to in your original reply, but I merely sought clarification for generally being involved in the overall process, so I guess I should’ve worded my clarification question differently to avoid misunderstanding & or confusion.
ndty – Good additional information about simulators. I never thought even one regular user on this site would’ve been working on simulators to any extent or in any way, let alone two.
ndty
12th November 2024, 10:28
@macleod super interesting stuff, yes the one thing people don’t always realise when seeing the big full-motion simulators in action is you literally need to build the building around it, as the forces even the simulator create can collapse any “normal” building. One of the expensive elements of these multi-million machines was the concrete base that would need to be created and filled in the floor of the building to damp out the forces / frequencies the simulator produces.
So cool you got to drive it, I also drove the simulator plenty of times, as I had the job of increasing the performance and control to meet our customer F1 teams needs, which meant driving alot of laps at up to multiple G’s (you could get much higher G’s at higher frequency, these machines are very very dynamic and powerful!). Alot of fun and a unique opportunity for sure, closest I’ll ever get to any sort of singe seater racing experience.
@Jere happy to finally get the chance to talk about them! The simulator is such a powerful and integrated tool in F1 that doesn’t get talked about alot, and they are so critical they are all shrouded in secrecy!
Coventry Climax
11th November 2024, 9:30
And the more correct answer to it, is that it all depends on what the registration with the respective chambers of commerce state about where a company is located.
Many companies produce here, while located.
It’s clear why, but that is not the point here.
In that respect, Lawson is probably wrong, but I can see where the emotion comes from.
Coventry Climax
11th November 2024, 9:32
..while located there.
No idea why there suddenly went missing. Probably registered in another country?
An Sionnach
11th November 2024, 9:29
Not sure how the simulator could look like Star Wars. Perhaps he means the 1983 vector graphics arcade game? That used to blow me away, too!
Coventry Climax
11th November 2024, 9:35
He was probably still wearing the VR goggles doing the interview.
An Sionnach
11th November 2024, 18:21
Car Wars would describe the 2024 season for Aston Martin. Hopefully for Alonso, it will be better next year!
Jungle
11th November 2024, 9:48
Lance Skywalker!
Lawrence – “The force is strong with this one Adrian.”
Newey – “Ah yeah no it isn’t really….but I’ll sign the contract anyway.”
Asd
11th November 2024, 11:07
I’m a saddened and deeply disappointed that a person involved in engineering made a comparison to a fantasy based fairy-tale and not something scientific like Star Trek.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th November 2024, 8:47
Star Wars franchise also features scientific stuff, even if less than Star Trek.
baasbas
11th November 2024, 11:32
and they let jar jar binks loose on that thing
HellTiger
11th November 2024, 12:41
Aston Martin’s simulator’s sound :
Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew 😁
will they launch red turtles ?
Dale
13th November 2024, 13:16
If Liam showed better potential as a professional race driver, I’d be less concerned at his obvious lack of education and basic understanding of the world … but I’m genuinely worried for his future now.
What’s he going to end up doing, flipping burgers at McD’s?