Ferrari must safe a constructive consequence on the Las Vegas GP if it needs to keep up 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 among 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 novel city circuit like Las Vegas, guides us by what occurs on the Maranello simulator after the 2 drivers full free observe classes with the SF-24. This exercise is normally thought-about prime secret by groups, however Van der Veen provides us a glimpse into the work of the take a look at drivers—work that continues to be obscure however invaluable.
Eric explains the challenges of the observe on the Strip:
“Las Vegas is a type of tracks which will appear straightforward when wanting on the format, but it surely’s really very tough. 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 should be tackled completely, even when touring at speeds exceeding 340 km/h, which requires excessive downforce to provide the motive force the arrogance 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 motive 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 night time, when temperatures can drop under 10°C, making it troublesome to rapidly convey the tires into the correct temperature window throughout qualifying and equally difficult to maintain them there through the race. As talked about, the tires cool additional on the lengthy straights, making a uniquely difficult situation for groups and drivers.”
Final 12 months, you had little or no information to make use of on the simulator, which was the one software out there to assist the drivers and the crew put together for this new circuit. Now that you’ve got actual information from the observe, what position does the simulator play?
“Evaluating what we knew final 12 months with what we all know this 12 months, the scenario is totally totally different. Whereas final 12 months’s observe mannequin was based mostly on drawings, this 12 months we now have an entire illustration of the observe and its asphalt. With all the info from 2023, we will now predict way more precisely what to anticipate this 12 months. Which means engineers and drivers—each Carlos and Charles, in addition to the drivers supporting us on the simulator—had been capable of higher put together for the weekend, each to familiarize themselves with the observe and to configure the automotive.”
Did each major drivers work on the simulator?
“As common, 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 surprising situations. That is exactly when the simulator turns into an especially highly effective software, and preparation classes are invaluable for enabling drivers to optimize their driving type for a selected observe.”
What sort of help are you able to present to the crew on the observe throughout Friday’s free observe classes?
“The simulator driver’s program throughout free observe 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 observe have a automotive that permits them to push to the restrict with out exceeding it, because the corners are tight and blind. Due to this fact, on the simulator, we primarily work on steadiness and cornering driving type, typically exceeding the restrict and hitting the partitions—fortunately, within the simulator, the harm isn’t actual (there’s solely a jolt to let the motive force know they’ve hit one thing!). Sometimes, throughout classes supporting the crew on observe, we replicate the situations, setups, and driving type from observe laps precisely.”
After replicating the actions from free observe, do you search for options to enhance efficiency?
“On this approach, we will establish the automotive’s strengths and weaknesses, search to enhance efficiency, and supply this suggestions to the crew on observe, which might then work on the setups accordingly. We additionally use these classes to anticipate what to anticipate if climate situations change through the weekend—for instance, variations in temperature, wind route, and depth from everyday and even throughout a single session. By simulating these climate situations, we will inform the drivers what to anticipate, permitting them to extract most efficiency from the automotive earlier than even hitting the observe.”
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