There is one door in a Formula 1 factory which no behind-the-scenes tour has access to: the simulator room. “Strictly no admittance, authorised personnel only” — or a similar phrase — will be written on the door. Inside is one of the most important tools used in the modern era of the sport. A driver-in-loop simulator allows teams and drivers to replicate the feeling of driving an F1 car on different tracks around the world, with incredible accuracy. This is a crucial tool, given testing is incredibly restricted — outside of filming days and Pirelli tyre testing, drivers are only able to use real cars from the 2024 season or earlier (called TPC testing). “F1 is quite a rare sport in the sense that we’re not really allowed to drive,” explains Arvid Lindblad, the Racing Bulls driver who is the only rookie on the grid this season. “In football, you can go and play football whenever you want — whereas in F1, it’s not the case. So [the sim] is a good way for us to continue driving and stay sharp. When I’m at home, I try to go on it every day.” Lindblad is describing the increasingly popular at-home simulator rigs which many drivers enjoy using in their own time. But the factory-based version, worth millions, is much more advanced. The leading F1 teams in the modern era employ a thousand, or more, staff, yet only a handful of those will ever see behind the simulator door. It was a significant step when Mercedes allowed F1: The Movie to film some scenes inside their simulator, the first time such access was given. Will Joseph, McLaren’s race engineering director and race engineer to Lando Norris, the world champion, told The Times what lies behind the no-admittance zone. “It’s a big