Formula 1 drivers spend hours in a simulator before each race. It can make or break race day.

• Williams Racing and other Formula 1 teams log countless virtual laps before each race.
• They do this in a simulator, an essential part of each F1 team's race prep.
• Williams Racing gives Business Insider an inside look at its simulator and explains its impact.

At first glance, a Formula 1 simulator may seem like a glorified video game. Drivers sit in a replica version of their cars' cockpits with a giant, curved monitor in front of them, racing around a virtual version of a real-life track.

But drivers and engineers are quick to point out that the simulator is no game — it's an essential part of race prep.

"The simulator forms a vast amount of our work," said James Urwin, a senior engineer at Williams Racing who has worked with the team since 2014.

Primarily, he serves as the chief engineer for Alex Albon, a 27-year-old driver in his fifth season of F1. In the days leading up to each grand prix — particularly on off weeks, when there is no upcoming race — he leads Albon's simulator prep.

"If we finish a race on Sunday, we're right back at work on Monday," Urwin said. "Typically, by Wednesday and Thursday, Alex is in the simulator. And if there's a double- or triple-header coming up, we'll be prepping for two or three races at the same time."

On the day BI spoke with Williams Racing, Urwin and Albon were testing setups for both the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final two races of the 2023 season. Their work begins about 9 a.m. and wraps up at 6 p.m. or later, with Albon logging constant laps, all in pursuit of finding the car's optimal configuration.

"Setup changes on the sim take minutes," Urwin said, "as opposed to 20 minutes at the actual racetrack, where a practice session lasts only an hour. So we're literally going nonstop on the sim — that way when we get to the real track, we'll have already mitigated some of the problems we expect to find there."

And the simulator itself, Urwin added, requires a good deal of physical exertion from the driver, with the steering wheel and brake pedals weighted to match an actual F1 car.

"It's no computer game," he said. "It's a workout for sure. And if Alex has just come off the plane after a triple-header, he's a trooper."

Practice makes perfect

In a typical sim session, Urwin and Albon start by going through a checklist of setup choices.

"We have a list of our baseline setup, where we look at springs, wing level, geometry changes — we have things to test to see if they're viable," Urwin said. "Then we take a look at interesting things that are required for that particular circuit."

For the race in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for example, front- and rear-wing height, which affects aerodynamics, is a key focus point. As a result, Albon ran repeated laps with various wing levels to see which configuration could shave hundredths or tenths of a second off his lap times.

"Once you get to the actual racetrack and do your first run, you get a general idea of what the balance and limitations are," Urwin added. "Then you can apply some of those setup tests you've done on the simulator to the real track, and it's much less guesswork involved."

The simulator is particularly important, Urwin said, when teams go to new circuits, including the Miami Grand Prix last year and Las Vegas this season, allowing them to test setup options on an unknown course. It also allows the driver to gain familiarity with the track's layout.

"It's invaluable in those situations," he said.

A team effort

Beyond Urwin and Albon, it takes a whole team to bring the Williams simulator to life. There are multiple staff members dedicated to keeping the sim up and running on the back end, as well as other engineers who analyze the data.

"We've got the people who operate the simulator, a program manager, the systems people who keep it ticking, and certainly a bigger team that interprets the graphics from the circuit models," Urwin said.

Typically, Williams and other F1 teams receive laser scans of each circuit from a third party. A software engineer on the team then interprets those scans into the simulator to build out the virtual racetrack.

Outside the back-end technical staffers, Williams has a dedicated simulator driver who logs even more laps than Albon and his F1 teammate, Logan Sargeant, can provide. Other drivers in the Williams pipeline also lend a hand, coming into the factory to run virtual laps to further assist with data collection.

"They help us develop the car and get it to a decent point to then hand it over to the race driver to finish off," Urwin said. "There are days when the setups don't work particularly well, and those drivers bear the brunt of it rather than the race drivers."

The simulator has limitations

As valuable and informative as the simulator can be, there are some areas where it falls a bit short.

"The tire model of the car is extremely hard to replicate in the simulator," Urwin said, "particularly with the thermal aspect of how it overheats and the grip evolution of when it's cold or when it's hot."

This is where driver experience comes in handy, he added. Albon, a veteran of the sport and one of F1's most consistent drivers, often provides input on aspects where reality and the simulator might differ.

"He has the ability and experience to say, 'You know, it feels like this in the simulator, but in reality, I think it'll be more like this,'" Urwin said. "There are subtle differences that you learn through experience."

Additionally, laser scans of brand-new racetracks typically do not replicate all the bumps that might be present on the real-life track, since no car has ever raced on the circuit before.

"In cases like that, the layout on the sim is 100% correct, but not the lumps and bumps that affect the car," he said.

Additionally, changing weather conditions in real life, such as cloud cover — which affects air and track temperatures — are hard to prepare for.

Still, even with a few limitations, Urwin said that the simulator remained an indispensable part of race prep, especially given that real-life practice sessions during a F1 weekend are so short and limited.

"Those one-hour practice sessions don't give you much time," he said. "So for sure, it's super important to have the sim."