Ferrari must safe a constructive consequence on the Las Vegas GP if it needs to take care of its momentum within the Constructors’ Championship battle, with three races remaining within the 2024 season. Eric Van der Veen, a 37-year-old Dutchman, is without doubt one of the engineers within the Racing Division who works on the simulator, supporting the classes drivers undertake in preparation for GPs.
The Breda-born technician, along with explaining the challenges of a singular city circuit like Las Vegas, guides us by what occurs on the Maranello simulator after the 2 drivers full free follow classes with the SF-24. This exercise is often thought-about high secret by groups, however Van der Veen provides us a glimpse into the work of the check drivers—work that is still obscure however invaluable.
Eric explains the challenges of the monitor on the Strip:
“Las Vegas is a kind of tracks which will appear straightforward when trying on the format, nevertheless it’s really very difficult. There are solely 5 sequences of corners, however all are low-speed with heavy braking zones, and a few are blind. The heavy braking zones have to be tackled completely, even when touring at speeds exceeding 340 km/h, which requires excessive downforce to offer the driving force the boldness to brake, navigate the corners, and speed up once more to deal with the lengthy straights, the place low drag and minimal aerodynamic load are wanted.”
The lengthy straights trigger each brake and tire temperatures to drop…
“The heavy braking zones on the finish of the straights current new challenges as a result of the driving force should handle the drop in brake and tire temperatures. Moreover, racing on a road circuit means the margin for error is minimal. Lastly, Las Vegas is within the desert, and the race takes place at evening, when temperatures can drop under 10°C, making it troublesome to rapidly deliver the tires into the right temperature window throughout qualifying and equally difficult to maintain them there in the course of the race. As talked about, the tires cool additional on the lengthy straights, making a uniquely difficult situation for groups and drivers.”
Final yr, you had little or no information to make use of on the simulator, which was the one instrument obtainable to assist the drivers and the workforce put together for this new circuit. Now that you’ve actual information from the monitor, what function does the simulator play?
“Evaluating what we knew final yr with what we all know this yr, the state of affairs is totally totally different. Whereas final yr’s monitor mannequin was primarily based on drawings, this yr now we have a whole illustration of the monitor and its asphalt. With all the information from 2023, we are able to now predict far more precisely what to anticipate this yr. Which means that engineers and drivers—each Carlos and Charles, in addition to the drivers supporting us on the simulator—had been in a position to higher put together for the weekend, each to familiarize themselves with the monitor and to configure the automobile.”
Did each primary drivers work on the simulator?
“As regular, Charles and Carlos labored on the simulator, specializing in driving type and setups to reach well-prepared for Las Vegas, in addition to being able to deal with probably sudden circumstances. That is exactly when the simulator turns into a particularly highly effective instrument, and preparation classes are invaluable for enabling drivers to optimize their driving type for a particular monitor.”
What sort of help are you able to present to the workforce on the monitor throughout Friday’s free follow classes?
“The simulator driver’s program throughout free follow focuses on optimizing particular person corners, as there are so few sequences the place the drivers could make a distinction. It’s essential that the drivers on monitor have a automobile that permits them to push to the restrict with out exceeding it, because the corners are tight and blind. Subsequently, on the simulator, we primarily work on stability and cornering driving type, typically exceeding the restrict and hitting the partitions—fortunately, within the simulator, the injury isn’t actual (there’s solely a jolt to let the driving force know they’ve hit one thing!). Sometimes, throughout classes supporting the workforce on monitor, we replicate the circumstances, setups, and driving type from follow laps precisely.”
After replicating the actions from free follow, do you search for options to enhance efficiency?
“On this method, we are able to determine the automobile’s strengths and weaknesses, search to enhance efficiency, and supply this suggestions to the workforce on monitor, which may then work on the setups accordingly. We additionally use these classes to anticipate what to anticipate if climate circumstances change in the course of the weekend—for instance, variations in temperature, wind course, and depth from daily and even throughout a single session. By simulating these climate circumstances, we are able to inform the drivers what to anticipate, permitting them to extract most efficiency from the automobile earlier than even hitting the monitor.”
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