Sacha Fenestraz has offered a rare insight into his work inside Ferrari’s Formula 1 simulator programme, explaining how he supports the development process at Maranello and revealing that he could get the opportunity to drive an F1 car on track in early 2027.
The 27-year-old Argentine driver, who was born in France and raised in Córdoba, has moved another step closer to his long-held Formula 1 ambition. After previously being part of Renault’s development programme and later working in Mercedes’ simulator, Fenestraz left the German team to join Ferrari, where he now contributes to simulator work at Maranello.
Sacha Fenestraz moves from Mercedes to Ferrari’s F1 simulator
Fenestraz told InfoBae that the story began in 2022, when he had signed for his first season in Formula E and was completing his racing campaign in Japan. Mercedes representatives contacted his manager, leading to a simulator role that continued until the end of last year, when the opportunity to move to Ferrari emerged.
“It’s a dream to be able to work for a team that means so much in the sport,” Fenestraz explained.
His Formula E experience proved particularly valuable to the Italian team, especially his knowledge of the power unit, battery and electrical energy management. Those are areas in which his previous racing experience provided expertise that Ferrari appreciated when bringing him into its simulator operation.
Because of the gardening leave that is commonplace when personnel move between Formula 1 teams, Fenestraz was only able to begin working properly with Ferrari in July 2026. His contract gives him a significant allocation of simulator days, but the delayed start means he expects to complete between 15 and 30 this year. For next season, that figure should increase to around 50 days.
How Ferrari simulator work supports Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc
The daily routine changes substantially depending on the type of work Ferrari requires. During conventional development sessions, Fenestraz generally works from around 9 or 9:30 in the morning until 4 or 5 in the afternoon.
Race support is a very different challenge. During those weekends, Ferrari’s simulator operates in parallel with the real track sessions, allowing the Maranello engineers to prepare and evaluate changes requested by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The simulator driver’s work therefore forms part of the wider process of responding to feedback coming directly from Ferrari’s race cars.
Fenestraz had already performed this type of race-support work for Mercedes, although he has yet to do so with Ferrari. The working hours can become considerably longer and depend heavily on the time difference between Maranello and the circuit hosting the Grand Prix.
He recalled one particularly demanding example from Canada last year, when his simulator shift began at around 10pm and continued until six or seven the following morning.
“You get schedules like that where you don’t sleep,” Fenestraz explained.
He prefers not to disclose too many specifics about the exact content of his Ferrari work, but explained that his responsibilities are primarily focused on managing variables for the current season, making use of the experience he accumulated in Formula E, as well as technical areas with a longer-term focus.
The role illustrates how simulator work extends beyond conventional car development, with virtual testing also helping teams respond to the requirements of a live Grand Prix weekend. Ferrari’s wider technical development and analysis can be followed in the Ferrari technical analysis section.
Fenestraz sees a genuine chance to test a Ferrari F1 car
One of the aspects that excites Fenestraz most is the realistic possibility of finally driving a Formula 1 car on track, an opportunity that never materialised during his time with Mercedes.
“There is a strong possibility, more than there was with Mercedes, that they’ll put me in the car for a day of testing on track,” he explained. “They already do it with the current simulator drivers. Everyone who is there gets those test days as promised.”
If everything proceeds according to plan, Fenestraz expects that opportunity to arrive at the beginning of 2027.
“Definitely at the beginning of next year, if everything comes together, I should be testing it,” he added. “Obviously it’s a dream, because ultimately that’s where you can prove something.”
Several formats could provide the opportunity. It might take the form of a TPC test using a previous Formula 1 car, a Friday free-practice session reserved for young drivers or an end-of-season rookie test.
Fenestraz is relying on the word of a person whose identity he cannot reveal, but who has assured him that he will get an opportunity to drive the car in the not-too-distant future.
Fenestraz describes the emotion of entering Ferrari at Maranello
Working for Ferrari has also made a powerful personal impression on the Argentine. His first experiences inside the Maranello factory were markedly different from the familiarity he had developed during his time at Mercedes.
“I’m at Disney. This whole thing is like a movie,” Fenestraz explained. “Just setting foot in there, having your own pass with your face on it to enter the factory, is crazy. Everything about Ferrari is enormous. You go from being out on the street to spending the whole day doing tests. You’ve got the Fiorano track behind the simulator department. It’s all a dream.”
On his first day, Fenestraz felt more like a Ferrari supporter than somebody arriving there to work.
“In front of the entrance there are fans all day taking pictures or waiting for someone to come out,” he explained. “It’s crazy. It’s an entire town based solely around Ferrari.”
Fenestraz immediately visited the nearby Ferrari museum and bought a wide range of merchandise. Whereas entering Mercedes had eventually become part of his everyday routine, he says arriving at Maranello still leaves him smiling from ear to ear each time, as though he were walking through the gates for the first time.
Ferrari’s simulator driver group and an F1 dream that remains alive
Ferrari’s simulator programme involves a relatively small group of approximately five or six drivers who also compete in other categories. Fenestraz currently races in Japan in Super Formula and Super GT with Toyota, a programme that gives him greater availability during Formula 1 weekends than several of his simulator colleagues who compete in the World Endurance Championship.
Despite being 27, Fenestraz has not abandoned his ambition of eventually racing in Formula 1.
“Dreaming is free, fortunately, because I still have so many dreams alive,” he explained. “I’m 27, I’m getting a little older, but the dream is still there and the opportunities are still there.”
He also continues to remember advice given to him by his former brother-in-law José María López: a driver must always be ready because opportunities of this kind do not appear ten times a year. When the chance to test finally comes, the priority has to be delivering the best possible performance.
For Fenestraz, Ferrari therefore represents considerably more than another simulator assignment. His work at Maranello allows him to contribute behind the scenes to the development and race-weekend preparation of the cars driven by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, while simultaneously keeping alive the possibility that his own opportunity in a Formula 1 cockpit could finally arrive.
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