Car
How sims such as rFactor, iRacing and Assetto Corsa help F1 and F2 drivers
by Samarth Kanal
4min read
Adaptability is a key characteristic for young racing drivers as they aim for a professional race seat. Yet, without extensive time on track, the virtual world is a crucial tool for drivers all the way up to Formula 1.
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Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers had three official pre-season testing days and three in-season testing days to prepare for the rest of the season. Outside of that, private testing is rare for most on the junior series grids.
Yet, the accessibility of accurate at-home race simulators means that young drivers can now sharpen their driving skills whether they’re at the track or factory, their home, or even in a hotel room.
Luke Browning, who took part in first practice at the 2025 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix for Williams, says he was impressed with how he adapted to driving faster machinery.
“I think the biggest, to be honest, most impressive thing [from my side] is the adaptation. I'm just happy to adapt well from F1 to F2,” he said to media including Raceteq after stepping out of the Williams F1 car.
Luke Browning at the wheel of the Williams FW47 during the 2025 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend
“The difference between F2 and an F1 car here [in Bahrain] is just massive.
“It’s unlimited, the amount of things you can do in programming this car, it’s just astonishing. Taking a step out of F2 into that and then getting your head around it, applying it correctly is not easy. So, for sure, it's been studied.”
The Williams junior driver says that simulators take up much of his training schedule, whether that’s on Williams’s F1 simulator at its UK headquarters or his simulator at home - with which he runs a mix of software including Assetto Corsa, iRacing, rFactor and Le Mans Ultimate.
“All I can tell you is that I spend every living minute on the simulator,” he says. “I’m part of Team Redline which is obviously Max Verstappen’s Esports team, I’ve done [virtual] Le Mans with him in the past, and I spent a lot of time in the sim.
“I go home after the day of work at Williams on the sim, and I sit on my sim, and I create a set-up for a different car that I fancy driving - and what that helps is adaptability,” he explains.
F1 champion Max Verstappen has his own Esports team and regularly competes in events
Browning says that he runs a mix of set-ups on F2 and F1 cars on his simulator at home to get a further understanding of how changing certain parameters - such as suspension stiffness, differential openness or brake bias - changes the car’s behaviour.
While software fidelity is getting higher and higher thanks to laser-scanned tracks and input from racing drivers, it’s hard to replicate the behaviour of a real car on a real track.
“I think it's not about accuracy,” reasons Browning.
“For a lot of people, it's understanding what makes a car go quick and if, for example, a differential pre-load does something on the simulator, maybe it does something different in one sim compared to real life, but the effect of how to manipulate the balance to get the best out of it - that's exactly what we practice every day.
“So hopefully when I come here in a full time role one day, I'm able to steer the team in a direction that I think would go quicker. I hope it's time rewarded.”
Software such as iRacing offers numerous laser-scanned circuits that are highly-accurate representations of their real-life counterparts
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The 23-year-old Briton says that other drivers including reigning F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto - now a Sauber F1 driver - and Red Bull’s reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen, have benefited from extensive simulator use.
“What Max has been so strong at is this adaptability factor. The understanding of what's going on beneath you and then being able to apply it.
“Someone I spend a lot of time in the sim with is also Bortoleto. He comes in, outqualifies his team-mate in the first [F1] round, that is just astonishing.
“We look at the amount of sim prep he spent through F3 [in 2023], and F2 last year, it's been massively helpful. To have this push between the younger generation now is, I think it's really taking the driving to another level, but equally so, the experience is just so massive.
“It's a massive advantage. For example, it’s my first time driving this Formula 2 car on a race weekend here in Bahrain. It's not easy to adapt, but if you can be as well-prepared as possible, you can make the most out of it at home on the sim, it's the way to go.”
