Both in the preparation for a race and after it, the work carried out by drivers and engineers on the endurance simulator proves essential.
In the weeks preceding a FIA WEC race, the simulator is an invaluable tool for organising sessions aimed at fine-tuning the Ferrari – AF Corse team’s 499Ps and for studying and analysing the different conditions in which the team might find itself competing.
After the event, however, the simulator allows you to work on the data collected on the track and understand the improvements applicable in the future.
Mauro Barbieri, Endurance Race Cars Performance & Regulations Manager, and the official drivers Antonio Fuoco and Alessandro Pier Guidi explain the “secrets” inherent in the sessions carried out in the simulator and the differences between “real” and virtual driving.
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Hardware and software
“The simulator is made up of a cockpit that faithfully reproduces the passenger compartment of the real car, inside which most of the buttons and switches have the same characteristics and functionality as the racing 499P” explains Barbieri.
This makes the driver’s job easier as he can familiarise himself with all the procedures he will carry out during the race weekend in the simulator.
“The cockpit is fixed on a platform equipped, in the lower part, with a ‘hexapod’, or six actuators that allow the cockpit to move in all directions in space, thus giving the driver all the sensations of acceleration, rolling, and yawing that he perceives when driving a real car”.
The design and construction of a sophisticated instrument such as the one available in Maranello includes several components.
“We have reproduced in Ferrari almost all the software that is in the 499P control unit, therefore the various logics that include both the strategies and the control systems. The aim is for the simulation to be as faithful to reality as possible”.
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Before a race
“The simulator is very important when we prepare for a race on a new track for our Hypercars” says Fuoco, official driver of the Prancing Horse, competing in the FIA WEC with the 499P number 50 shared with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen: the trio won the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“We have to consider, in fact, that the first day of activity on the circuit is usually Friday, when the free practice sessions are short, and it is not easy for all three drivers of a crew to stay on board the 499P for long”.
Barbieri goes into detail: “When we approach a new track, where we have never tested or raced with the 499P, we prepare ourselves to face many unknowns. Thanks to the simulator we can draw up a list of actions and possible solutions based on the various problems that could arise”.
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Simulation and reality
While the simulator is a highly technological tool that is essential both in the preparation phase for a race and after it (when all the data collected on the track is analysed and studied with future commitments in mind), there are nevertheless differences compared to the ‘real’ car.
“The feeling compared to reality is a little different, there are specific characteristics in terms of driving impressions,” explains Fuoco.
“For us it is important to work on the simulator especially before a race to get familiar with the track and, once we arrive at the circuit, to be able to adapt to the track in the shortest time possible.”
On the relationship between reality and simulation, Pier Guidi, winner of the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans with the 499P number 51 together with James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi, adds: “The biggest difference is the lateral force felt in the long bends, which is not as continuous as that perceived in reality”.
“So when you go through very long corners, you only feel a part of the high lateral force that you then feel on the racing 499P.”
Some physical differences are also found “during the braking phase – adds Pier Guidi – when you have the perception of the first braking ‘bite’, that is when you start braking itself, but then the deceleration is not as constant as you perceive in reality, on the track”.
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Dialogue
The approach to the simulator, in terms of driving and feedback from the technical team, reflects the work with the racing Hypercar.
“We use the simulator as if it were a real car. The feedback I give to the engineers after a Sim session is the same as the one I give on the track, and this also happens when I suggest making changes to the setup or replacing a component,” says Pier Guidi.
“The big difference is in the execution times of these interventions: in the simulator they are obviously shorter and this allows us to optimize the work done in Maranello”.
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