Pedro de la Rosa says Ferrari have to work hard to match McLaren's simulator programme

Pedro de la Rosa has admitted that Ferrari have plenty of work to do if they are to match McLaren's simulator programme.

In this regard at least, Ferrari are playing catch up with their rivals. McLaren have a head start, having first built a simulator a decade ago and while Ferrari had one towards the end of Michael Schumacher's time at Maranello, their successes with him were built upon a foundation of relentless testing at their tracks in Fiorano and Mugello. That work was instrumental in the five title successes Schumacher enjoyed there. However, the importance of simulators has grown exponentially since limits on testing mileage were introduced in 2009. Kimi Raikkonen - who refused to drive Ferrari's simulator - won their last title two years earlier. De la Rosa said he was unsure whether Ferrari could close the virtual gap any time soon, but did say that they need to improve both the simulator hardware and software. "Let's be realistic: the McLaren simulator programme started in 2003, so they are obviously a few years ahead in schedule compared to other teams," he said. "We'll see. The whole point, as I've said is to accelerate this process. We're not sure if it will take six months, one year or two years. We just have to work flat out to catch up because there's no testing unfortunately and this is a big handicap for all the teams that don't have a very developed simulator." De la Rosa added: "The first step has to come from the hardware, otherwise you cannot catch up with the software."