Bottas stresses the importance of the simulator at Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas stated that the simulator had logically helped him to adapt well at Alfa Romeo and perform directly.
Arriving this season at Alfa Romeo, Valtteri Bottas is among the satisfactions of this early season. Eighth in the drivers’ championship with 30 points, four out of five times in the points (the fifth race being a retirement in Jeddah), the Finn seems to be reborn since leaving Mercedes.
A dream start for Bottas in Frédéric Vasseur’s team, made possible by a highly performing C42, consistently competing at the top of the midfield in almost every race. Currently fifth in the constructors’ championship with 31 points, Bottas has scored almost all of the team’s points, despite Guanyu Zhou also being one of the positive surprises of the early season.
To explain these performances without needing any adaptation time, Bottas emphasized the importance of the simulator. Nowadays, of course, simulators are very important when you lack tests and as technology improves, you can get more and more out of them.
The Finn confessed that he had, logically, noticed a difference between the Mercedes and Alfa Romeo simulators. The first time I tried the Alfa Romeo Sauber simulator, I could feel that there was a difference compared to the one at Mercedes because Mercedes started a very, very long time ago and our team, we only started a few years ago. So, of course, there is some catching up to do.
Obviously, for weekends where Formula 1 discovers a new track, the simulator is nowadays an extremely useful tool. « But since the first time I tried it compared to what it is now, it has already improved enormously and has already been a really useful tool this year, especially in the last events, to support the race weekend. […] For example, [in Miami] it was really useful to know the track and to try out some different settings and wing levels to get a little idea beforehand, » added Bottas.
