This might be the most advanced F1 sim commercially available

At some point later this afternoon in Abu Dhabi, history will be made. Whether Lewis Hamilton clinches his eighth title and pulls clear of the record seven crowns claimed by Michael Schumacher or Max Verstappen takes his first remains to be seen, but whatever the result we’re about to witness the end of an era. With a new ruleset designed to bunch the pack up and slow them down – temporarily, at least – we’re about to say farewell to the fastest racing cars to have ever graced the planet.

So it’s somewhat timely we’ve just received what I’m certain is the most advanced F1 sim commercially available, thanks to the partnership between iRacing and the Mercedes AMG Team that saw the W12 E arrive to the service earlier this week. I can’t pretend to have much by way of first-hand experience of this most muscular iteration of the hybrid era, but I’ve been lucky enough to be trackside a few times and this certainly brings the supernatural speed and performance of the fastest F1 cars ever to life more vividly than any other title.

Before delving into more detail, though – and the detailing of the W12 in iRacing is sublime – it’s worth giving credit to Codemasters, should they be feeling sore about their own take on the car in F1 2021. By design that game has a much broader appeal, yet the underlying is the same – there’s the same ability to change direction at neck-breaking speed, how it transitions in an instant and how it greedily gobbles up all that tarmac with such outrageous pace. It’s just told here in a slightly different way.