How F1 drivers used the virtual world to prepare for the brand-new Madring

Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix is the first chance for Formula 1 drivers to experience the Madring and get a first proper feeling for the challenges of its 22 turns.

Only Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have sampled the venue previously, albeit briefly, and on a very dusty Ferrari filming day.

Between them the current grid have already driven thousands of laps in driver-in-the-loop team simulators, or DILs as they are sometimes called internally.

Sims have two main uses. Most of the time it’s crucial homework for the engineers as they prepare for race weekends, although in 2026 the added complexity of managing energy deployment means that sessions are far more useful and critical for the drivers than they were in the past. The other obvious use is for rookies to learn unfamiliar tracks.

However, when a new venue joins the F1 calendar the sim becomes a key learning tool for even the most experienced drivers. The complication is that with no real world data yet fed into the system to improve the track model, accuracy can be compromised. The detail available for historic tracks simply isn’t yet there, especially with elements like kerbs and bumps.

For street tracks in particular there’s also the issue of grip levels, which change dramatically as rubber goes down over the course of the weekend. Nevertheless, sim running is an essential preparation tool.

“It looks like an interesting track,” Oscar Piastri says of the Madring. “And on the sim, once you get into the rhythm of things, it was fun to drive.

"Whether you can get into the same rhythm in in real life, I'm not sure, because I probably would have written off a few cars if I tried to do everything like it in the sim! But I think it's the same for everybody. So it looks like it's got potential to be fun.”

Piastri highlights a fascinating point. Much like you might do on your home video game, in the sim F1 drivers really do push to the limits until they crash, and learn where they have to rein things in.

In this era of the cost cap teams are more than happy for drivers to have their accidents in the virtual world.

“In the simulator, you don't drive around with the fear of hurting yourself or the car,” says Ollie Bearman. “So the goal of the sim is to try and hit every wall possible, in a way, because like that you learn exactly where the limits are.

"You find them in in the most efficient way possible, and by doing that you don't do that on the real track, hopefully.

“It's definitely a tough track. But every street track I go to on the sim, it's pretty normal that you're bouncing off the walls quite a lot, because that's the beauty of the simulator.”

Lando Norris also made some interesting observations about where sims differ from the real world.

“I think the main thing you always lack on a simulator is just the speed sensation,” says the current World Champion. “Also the fear of a street circuit. Of course, the biggest question is grip, and grip allows you to have a lot of confidence, or very little. So that's the biggest question straight away.

“Otherwise, the thing you miss and the thing that's most different when you get in the car is the perception of acceleration and speed, and that's what we really miss the most in a simulator that makes it real nowadays. For the most part, everything I think on the sim is good.

“It's just when you go around Turn 12 here, when you approach some of the corners, you're approaching pretty quick. But on the simulator, you don't necessarily feel like you're approaching that quickly. So I think that's the tougher part tomorrow to adapt to.”

Audi's Nico Hulkenberg agrees that grip is the biggest unknown as rubber builds up on a new track surface.

“When it comes to the final details, the grip level, all this, it's difficult, especially first time at a new venue,” says the German. “There is so much track evolution through the weekend.

“If the weather is stable, it changes quite a lot as the weekend goes on. But obviously, the sims are really good just to give you the idea of the rhythm of the track, the corner sequences, and all that kind of stuff.”

Fernando Alonso, the most experienced driver on the 2026 grid, has seen sims improve dramatically over the decades. He’s also sampled a lot of different venues over his time in the sport, and he still enjoys the challenge of discovering a new one.

“I like when a new track comes and you go to the simulator and you need to do a good five, six laps until you know exactly where you are on track,” he says. “And then you need to do a good 50-60 laps to start optimising racing lines, braking points and things like that.

"But then it doesn’t take away anything from tomorrow’s first couple of laps because there is, again, a new feeling in the real world.

“And in the simulator you reset, you start from the pit lane again and nothing happened. But tomorrow, if you crash, it’s the end of the day.

"So the feeling of danger and adrenaline that you have in the real car is impossible to replicate. Tomorrow we will all have that, even if we know the track. So it doesn’t take away anything, and new tracks are always welcome I think, and more fun.”