There's more than one type of simulator, and F1 has certain 'spending caps', after a spending war bankrupted bunch of teams.

Wind tunnel time and aerodynamics simulator time are included in the cost cap, as are car parts and most staff (but not driver salaries, travel or marketing)

Drivers can spend all the time they want in standard consumer sim racing rigs, practising the tracks. But when it's the type of extra-high-fidelity simulator that lets you make the car better - that's subject to the cost cap.

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TeMPOraL 3 hours ago | parent [-]

> but not driver salaries, travel or marketing

I assume someone is already offering an extremely high-fidelity CFD simulator (or a wind tunnel) to help companies shoot awesome videos of their cars, for purposes of including them in TV spots, of course.

	▲	rurban 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		CFD simulations came at around 2010. Redbull had the best of them, that's why they took over from Mercedes-McLaren those years. I worked on engine and powertrain simulations, and my compiler was used for vehicle and driver simulations. This was built for Honda, but Honda left, bought by Mercedes, and won them several championships.