Lewis Hamilton has not abandoned Ferrari’s Formula 1 simulator at Maranello. Instead, he has reportedly put it back in its proper place.
According to information obtained by ScuderiaFans.com, the seven-time world champion has resumed using the Scuderia’s simulator after the break he announced before the Canadian Grand Prix. However, he is said to have done so with a completely different approach: rather than starting from a theoretical setup generated by the simulator through a combination of data, models, and virtual parameters, he is now calibrating the simulator based on solutions he has personally discovered on track.
After Miami, the 41-year-old from Stevenage explained that he wanted to distance himself from the simulator because its indications had repeatedly led him in the wrong direction. The issue was not the tool itself, which is widely regarded as one of the most advanced in Formula 1, but rather the correlation between the virtual car and the real one. Put simply, the SF-26 he drove in the simulator did not always provide the same sensations as the Ferrari he later encountered on the racetrack.
Hamilton has reversed Ferrari’s method: track first, simulator second
The turning point reportedly came after that break. The British driver is said to have decided to focus first on the real car, relying on his own feelings and feedback regarding braking, corner entry, rear-end stability, front-end confidence, and balance during weight transfers.
Once he found a more effective direction on track, that technical baseline was then transferred back into the simulator.
It is a form of reverse engineering applied to Formula 1: no longer simulator-to-track, but track-to-simulator. First, the driver develops the real-world setup, then the virtual model is adapted to match that direction.
In practice, Lewis Hamilton appears to have stopped relying on the simulator’s “pre-packaged” solutions — the setup window generated by the project’s calculations and numerical models — and instead forced the system to follow the car configuration he had rebuilt and validated on track.
The sporting results have added weight to his position. Following the change in methodology, Lewis Hamilton secured what was then his best Ferrari result in Canada. He then continued to build momentum in the races that followed, culminating in victory in Barcelona, which also reignited his challenge in the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship.
During the same period, Charles Leclerc experienced the most difficult phase of his season, dealing with mistakes, retirements, and an adaptation process that has yet to be fully completed regarding the SF-26’s new technical direction.
For this reason, the information obtained by Fanpage, if confirmed, would significantly alter the narrative surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s relationship with Ferrari’s simulator.
Rather than portraying a driver who rejects technology, it would tell the exact opposite story: that of a seven-time world champion who has resumed using the simulator, but only after redefining its role within the development process.
It is no longer the unquestioned starting point of the work. Instead, it remains an extremely valuable tool for development and preparation, but one that must be calibrated according to the driver’s sensitivity and the evidence gathered on track.
At Ferrari, a team that for months has been chasing performance through numbers that were not always perfectly aligned with reality, the most important upgrade may have been this change in philosophy. Lewis Hamilton took control of the car, demonstrated a technical direction through real-world performance, and then brought the simulator back into the process.
But on his own terms.
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