Vettel: 'Maybe better to drive in a city bus than in the simulator'

Formula One cars are getting heavier and heavier. This is something that many Formula One drivers have to get used to. So does Sebastian Vettel, who compares driving a contemporary F1 car to driving a city bus.

Formula One cars have gained considerable weight in recent years. In 2012, an F1 car weighed 640 kilograms. Now, ten years later, the cars weigh 795 kilograms with the driver in the cockpit. This will reportedly be increased to 798 kilograms for the race in Bahrain. The cars are fast in the faster corners, but this makes them harder to drive and often slower in slower corners. A good example of this might be turn ten in Bahrain, where many drivers went too wide in the second week of testing in 2022.

Vettel has therefore found the perfect solution to train for a Grand Prix. "Maybe it’s better to jump on the city bus rather than the simulator before the race to get the preparation done", jokes the German according to news agency Reuters.

According to the Aston Martin driver, there is a big difference in driving these heavier cars compared to the cars of the past. "It’s just more inertia, more mass, so therefore the driving has to adapt."