Here we go again, as every month I’ve decided to take a look at the simracing equipment of a Formula 1 driver. And while previous articles have explored some drivers’ love of virtual racing, this time things are different. We take a look at Sebastian Vettel and Sim Racing. And above all, we’ll try to understand what lies behind his incredible equipment.
Because, in concrete terms, we’ve rarely seen a simracing chassis this advanced. It’s all the more astonishing given that Vettel is not at all known for his love of car simulation. So, is this a real love affair or just a big publicity stunt?
We’re off!
A quick look at Sebastian Vettel
You can’t change what happened. But you can always change what’s going to happen.
Sebastian Vettel
Well, I’m sure you’re all familiar with the character, so I’ll be very brief. Sebastian Vettel was born in Germany on July 3, 1987. He currently lives in Switzerland, in the canton of Thurgau to be precise.
The guy won 4 Formula 1 world championships in a row from 2010 to 2013. At the time, he was driving Red Bull single-seaters. At the time of writing, he has 53 Grand Prix wins to his name… In short, Vettel’s no laughing matter (although he does seem to have a cool sense of humor off the track).
After a truly disappointing 2014 season, he joined the Scuderia Ferrari team until 2020. But after 6 years without a win, he ended up signing for Aston Martin. This was a godsend for Lawrence Stroll, who bought the team (formerly Racing Point) and put his son Lance Stroll in charge. The team finds itself with a former world champion who may well be able to extract the full potential from his car.
But if Aston Martin doesn’t exactly shine for its Formula 1 successes, there’s something to be said for it… Lawrence Stroll is a successful entrepreneur who knows how to play the marketing game.
A late start in Simracing
“I’m aware that some people take it (Simracing) very seriously and spend a lot of time on it, but I like to do other things too.“
“Maybe it’s better to do a lap with a bus rather than a simulator before a race to prepare properly.”
Sebastian Vettel on simulators
But back to the topic of the day, Simracing. Sebastian Vettel, like his colleague Kevin Magnussen, is not known for his love of the discipline. His first public appearance in the world of simracing dates back to May 2020.
It was the beginning of the Covid health crisis. Vettel took part in a Legends Trophy race (on rFactor 2). He placed 15th in qualifying and finished the race in the same position. Victory went to a certain Juan Pablo Montoya, just ahead of Jenson Button. Yes, it was a good crowd!
Despite this impressive start, Vettel’s setup is unpretentious. And it was another, much more important constraint that pushed him over the edge with more serious equipment.
With the health crisis and confinements, access to the Silverstone simulator proved complicated, if not impossible. Vettel had been unable to prepare properly for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Reason enough for him to create his own simulator.
Except that, unlike Charles Leclerc or Romain Grosjean, who bought high-quality simracing equipment that was nevertheless accessible to the public… Vettel took a slightly more… flamboyant route.
Designing Sebastian Vettel’s simracing chassis
The design of the simulator began in April 2021. Former Force India R&D engineer Matt Tomalin is overseeing the project. It’s fair to say that we’re in for a real treat. Clearly, Aston Martin Racing has built Vettel a simracing chassis like no other.
After a good two months of discussions and planning, construction began in July. The simulator was ready and delivered to Sebastian Vettel in September.
Forget the “screen, steering wheel on a tubular or aluminum section chassis” setups. We’re going straight to an Aston Martin 2021 Formula 1 shell. What on earth have they put in there?
- A real cockpit from one of the development versions of the AMR21
- Safety harnesses
- The custom seat from Vettel’s 2021 single-seater
- Its headrest
- The rear-view mirrors
- Sawtooth visor
- Halo system
- A custom-designed support structure for the cockpit, computer systems and 3 massive screens.
Most of the cockpit components are taken directly from the 2021 Aston Martin. The engineers went so far as to reintroduce the name Vettel had given his AMR21 in the cockpit, “Honey Rider”
Integrated simulation components
Here, things are a little more mysterious. Not much is known about the electronic components inside Sebastian Vettel’s sim racing simulator. Apart from a few recognizable elements in photos of the machine, it’s all a bit foggy. But we do have some clues!
We know, for example, that Pro Sim helped at least with the choice and settings of the force feedback base and pedals. Pro Sim’s expertise came in to ensure that the simulator was as close as possible in terms of feel to real Formula 1.
The Pro Sim brand is used to creating highly sophisticated simulators. In fact, this isn’t the first time Pro Sim has been involved in the creation of a Formula simulator. And each time they’ve supplied their own bases and pedals. As for the steering wheel, it’s simpler, since it’s a Precision Sim Engineering.
To make the driver vibrate to the sound of the Formula 1’s over-vitamined V6, you need to send out a big sound. The chassis is equipped with a Logitech Z906 speaker system with 5.1 surround sound. Oh, and since they were afraid of running out, 1,000 Watts of peak power seemed like a good idea. And as 2 screens were a bit short, a third was added along the way. After all, we’re not that far behind.
With equipment like this, Vettel can have a lot of fun at home! And, incidentally, save himself a few trips to the Silverstone simulator.
Want to get closer to Sebastian Vettel’s Sim Racing setup?
Miracle! You’ve got a few thousand (well, tens of thousands) euros too many in your account! Great, here’s a race list that’ll get you a little closer to Vettel’s simracing equipment:
- Formula simracing chassis: Pro Sim Formula cockpit (€51,361.98 incl. VAT, of course…)
- Direct Drive base: Pro Sim Simsteering 2 FFB System 26NM (4171€ incl. VAT)
- Steering wheel : Precision GPX Steering Wheel (3030€ inc. VAT)
- 5.1 surround system: Logitech Z906 (360€ inc. VAT)
- Triple screen and computer: I’ll leave it to you to make your own predictions, as I haven’t found an equivalent to what’s shown in the photos. If you do, don’t hesitate to say so in the comments!
Excluding screens and computer, we’re looking at just under €60,000. That’s almost affordable, isn’t it? Hardly the price of a second-hand Aston Martin DB9, but you’re not going to go without 😉
When Sebastian Vettel took a mine from a young eSport talent.
On February 5, 2022, in the Nations Cup, the German driver was defeated by ESport driver Lucas Blackley. The young simracer on a real track beat him by 0.080 seconds. Vettel was paired with Mick Schumacher, but neither driver was able to beat Blackley.
The German team was therefore unable to match its previous performance in the Nations Cup. Vettel and Michael Schumacher had won every year between 2007 and 2012. And Vettel won again alongside Pascal Wehrlein in 2017.
Sebastian Vettel and Sim Racing in review
Since 2020, Vettel has been much more open about simracing. But as he says himself, he has no desire or intention of getting more involved in virtual racing. In fact, he’s never hidden the fact that he’s not a fan of the virtual world and social networks.
“I think it’s more something to try for fun. I grew up with it and played some games, but to be honest, since I was a kid, it’s not the first thing on my bucket list.”
Vettel on Simracing
Incidentally, I must confess to asking myself a question that we’ll never know the answer to anyway. Is this crazy chassis for Vettel just a big publicity stunt? We’ve seen other drivers change their minds about simracing. Magnussen, for example, is now a partner of the Asetek brand. But Vettel doesn’t seem to be going down that road at all.
I know, we’ll never really know. In any case, it’s quite a cockpit that’s been created for the four-time world champion!
Feel free to drop us a line in the comments so we can talk about it together. Do you think Vettel really uses this chassis at home on a regular basis? Or has Father Stroll pulled a marketing stunt from outer space? See you soon 🙂
