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Lewis Hamilton has offered the clearest explanation yet for his decision to abandon Ferrari's Maranello simulator as a race preparation tool, and his reasoning is as straightforward as it is revealing: he simply performs better without it.
The seven-time world champion originally made headlines following the Miami Grand Prix, when he declared he would no longer rely on Ferrari's simulator ahead of race weekends, having concluded that the tool had steered him towards the wrong setup direction. He subsequently skipped simulator work before the Chinese Grand Prix and finished third — a result he cited as validation of his instinct.
Montreal only strengthened his conviction. Hamilton delivered arguably his most complete performance as a Ferrari driver, finishing second at the Canadian Grand Prix for his best result in Maranello colours to date. As Jolyon Palmer noted, drawing a parallel with Michael Schumacher, Hamilton's most competitive showings this season have all come without simulator preparation.
Reflecting on his approach after Montreal, Hamilton was measured but unambiguous. He left the door open to using the simulator again, but strictly in a correlative capacity — to cross-reference what he has experienced in the real car — rather than as a setup-building tool ahead of race weekends.
"The simulator, I mean, I'm sure I would drive it at some point. I think what could be good is, for example, going back and doing a correlation to this weekend so we can find out where it's missing," Hamilton explained. "Because the test driver will be on there saying it's all… they will only know what they know because they don't get to drive. It's only Charles, and I get to drive the car. So, the positive of something like being able to drive the real car, go back and say, 'This is actually what it feels like. These are the things that we're missing,' so that we can improve it."
However, using the sim to prepare for an upcoming race is a different matter entirely.
"Whether or not I use it to prepare for another race? Probably not. There are just too many risks. If you look at the two best races I've had, I didn't use a simulator, and that's honestly how it was."
Hamilton also drew on his championship-winning history to reinforce his point, noting that simulator preparation was far from central to the bulk of his title-winning campaigns.
"Pretty much all the championships before, except for probably 2008, I didn't use the sim, so it's not a necessity. It's a tool that can be powerful. But for me, I'm old school. I'm probably better without it."
It is a striking admission from one of the most decorated drivers in the sport's history — and one that speaks to a broader truth about Hamilton's relationship with his craft. His feel for a car, built across decades of elite competition, may ultimately be a more reliable compass than any virtual data set.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.