"You can get more and more out of it" - F1 simulators are 'hugely important', feels Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas feels simulators play a pivotal role in the preparation for the modern-day F1 driver.

The 32-year-old Finn moved to Alfa Romeo in 2022 after five seasons at Mercedes alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking during a pre-race drivers' press interaction session ahead of the 2022 F1 Miami GP, Bottas elaborated on the importance of simulators, especially when coming to new venues. He said:

“Nowadays, of course, the simulators are hugely important with a lack of testing and as the technology improves, you can get more and more out of it. And the first time I tried the Alfa Sauber simulator, I could feel that there was quite a difference to the one at Mercedes because Mercedes started a long, long time ago and our team, we only started a few years ago.”

The Finn went on to add, saying:

“So, of course, there’s catching up to do, but from the first time I tried it versus what it is now it’s already hugely improved and it has been already this year, especially the last couple of events, a really useful tool to kind of support the race weekend. So that’s always a driver at the factory during the race weekend doing also similar setup tests and doing the correlation and it’s been rapid progress on that and that keeps going and it is already really good tool.”

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"There are still some improvements to be made" - Valtteri Bottas lending his expertise to help upgrade Alfa Romeo's simulators

Despite all his praise for the simulators, Valtteri Bottas feels there is room for improvement in the machinery.

During the aforementioned media interaction session, the 10-time F1 Grand Prix winner said:

“There are still improvements to be made and obviously I’ve given my part to it based on my experience and I’m sure it has helped as well and like, for example, this weekend it was really useful to get to know the track and actually try a few different set-ups or wing levels so you get a bit of an idea and before coming here.”

Bottas will be aiming to add to his tally of 24 points at the Miami International Autodrome. The Finn has already helped Alfa Romeo score more points in the first four rounds of 2022 than they managed in the last two seasons combined.