Piastri: Everyone can have their own attitude towards simulators.

      Lewis Hamilton is performing quite well in 2026 and, at the end of the first half of the season, he is in 2nd place in the individual standings, although his gap from the championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, is quite large – 50 points.

      The seven-time world champion's results have been much better since the beginning of the year compared to 2025, when he just moved to Ferrari, but he became even more confident in his driving starting from the Canadian Grand Prix, where he finished 2nd.

      After that, Lewis made a somewhat unexpected statement, saying that his decision to stop using the simulator helped him:

      "Before this race, I didn't prepare for it on the simulator and as a result, I felt the car better than ever this season. I think this is the optimal solution for me. We worked hard, analyzed the data, and I realized that this suits me better."

      Hamilton's results in the following races only confirm his words, as he finished second again in Monaco, won the race in Barcelona, and has not dropped below 5th place since.

      However, Oscar Piastri, racing for McLaren, spoke in defense of modern high-tech simulators used by Formula 1 teams, emphasizing that it is a useful tool that helps prepare for races. Moreover, he hinted that the discussion about simulators inevitably reveals a generational gap, as Hamilton entered Formula 1 16 years before him.

      "I believe that simulators are useful," quotes the 25-year-old Australian RacingNews365. "Besides, I belong to a different generation compared to Lewis's generation, which grew up in a different time. Of course, simulators have been around for a long time, but as far as I know, they don't suit everyone.

      Modern racing cars are very complex, and I believe that practicing on a simulator brings great benefits both to me and to the team. But simulators will never become perfect, will never be a completely reliable tool, and working on a simulator can never replace driving a real car.

      But everyone can have their own attitude, and you either use all the tools available to you or you don't, if you think that suits you better."

      It is worth adding that Kimi Raikkonen also did not like simulators, but that did not prevent him from becoming a two-time world vice-champion and winning the title in 2007, although, of course, during his career, simulators were far less advanced than those Oscar speaks of.