[Video] What's the framework of Merc's F1 simulator?

"StingrayJake" (stingrayjake) 03/25/2015 at 13:55 • Filed to: F1, driving sim, Forza, Gran Turismo

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Mercedes posted this footage of Lewis Hamilton driving the Sepang circuit in their simulator. Now it doesn't have bleeding edge graphics but it looks pretty good considering and you would figure that the physics in Mercedes' simulator (or any other team's simulator for that matter) are as close to reality as possible.

What do they use for the framework for these simulators? I would assume that they have their own people in-house who build the simulations (physics, tracks, etc.) but do they license the graphics engine (or even basic physics) from a gaming company before inputting their own physics data? The graphics look good enough for me to think they don't do everything in-house.

It'd be fascinating to see how these things come together. I realize you wouldn't want your competitor getting access to your sim physics data, but wouldn't it be fantastic if they could sell that kind of info to game makers and improve the physics in the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > StingrayJake 03/25/2015 at 13:58

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They're mostly bespoke. Pedro De La Rosa was hired by Ferrari specifically because of how much he knew about the McLaren sim which (at the time) was considered the best driver in the loop sim around. Ironically enough, he was hired by McLaren because of how much he knew about the 200(6?) Ferrari, but that's just the way things work in F1.

Gated Manual > StingrayJake 03/25/2015 at 14:04

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#Blessed. #TeamLH

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > StingrayJake 03/25/2015 at 14:29

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Was my reply eaten by Kinja? Sorry if a double post -

F1 teams are using bespoke sims. There's some sharing amongst teams with technical partnerships (McLaren and FI, RBR and STR, etc), but it's otherwise developed by the teams themselves. Pedro De La Rosa was poached from McLaren by Ferrari a couple of years ago specifically to help with their sim development wince at the time, McLaren was considered to have by far the best in the business. He was also previously hired by McLaren because of his relationship with some Ferrari engineers, but that's just how things work in F1.

StingrayJake > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 03/25/2015 at 14:39

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Yeah I saw it. Interesting to think that F1 teams have people on staff who could make a killer driving sim.