"Completely new simulator" for McLaren as they aim to break top three

McLaren F1 will welcome the 2020 season with a "completely new" simulator. The Woking-based team secured the 'best of the rest' position in the constructors' championship in November, and they now look ahead to hunting down Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes. 

Despite having had their best season since 2012, Andreas Seidl, James Key and Zak Brown aren't putting the brakes on. They're keen on growing the development and lifting the team back to the top of the table. A new wind-tunnel coming in 2021 adds to their plans as well as this new simulator as confirmed by James Key. 

"We've got a new driver-in-the-loop simulator. It's a massive departure to what we've been using. It's a project that McLaren pioneered a long time ago - but it's also been recognised now that that world has moved on too, and that's sort of a big project within the team. [I'm] hoping that will come on by next year," technical chief Key is quoted by Motorsport.com. 

The simulator should help both Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris improve the McLaren car. But, as usual in F1, they won't be only two using the simulator. Formula E racer Oliver Turvey, Formula 2 driver Sergio Sette Camara and Esports gamer Rudy van Buren will all gather different data. 

Key goes on to explain the differences between the current simulator and the reasons why McLaren need a new one. 

"To sort of pay tribute to that current simulator, which is obviously heavily based on what came out years ago, it's still a very, very useful tool and doing its job, you know? It's been extremely effective for a long time. But the technology has moved, I think the understanding of the limitations of the first and maybe even the second generation of [F1] simulators are better understood by most teams now," Key continued. 

"As a result, the third generations are really quite different animals actually, the technology that goes into them is very new and very different. So it's a completely fresh start, this project."