Jenson Button warns Lewis Hamilton he can’t get away with skipping Ferrari simulator tests

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Jenson Button has told Lewis Hamilton that simulator work ‘needs to be done’ after hearing his comments at the Miami GP.

After finishing a lonely sixth in Florida, Hamilton said he wouldn’t use the sim ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, suggesting he had been misled on setup direction due to a lack of correlation.

He said, via ESPN: “You know I don’t like simulators in general, but I sit at the simulator every week on the build-up to this race, working on correlation constantly.

“You go on it, you prepare for the track, you drive it and you get the car set-up to a certain place and then you come to the track and that set-up doesn’t work.”

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Simulator can take you in the ‘wrong direction’, but Lewis Hamilton still needs it

It’s worth noting that Hamilton didn’t conduct any simulator running before the Chinese GP, which was the second leg of a back-to-back after Australia. He enjoyed his best weekend as a Ferrari driver in Shanghai as he finally notched his first podium.

But when his remarks were put to his former teammate on Sky Sports News, Button said simulator work was an essential part of a driver’s preparation.

Hamilton’s input into Ferrari’s development ahead of the 2026 season has improved his mindset, team principal Fred Vasseur says. But his confident, optimistic demeanour in March has given way to a more frustrated tone after difficult races in Japan and Miami.

Button said: “This year, I have to say, from the word go, he seems a lot more confident in himself, a lot more confident in the people he’s working with in the team.

“But the last couple of races haven’t been easy for him, and sometimes you can get a little bit lost with a simulator, going down the wrong direction with setup.

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“You still need to do it, though. There’s homework that needs to be done away from the track.

“But I think Lewis will turn up with a lot of confidence in Montreal. We want to see Ferrari at the front, and we want to see Lewis fighting for wins, especially at Montreal – a circuit he loves so much.”

Hamilton has won the Canadian Grand Prix seven times, which makes it his third most successful circuit behind Silverstone (nine wins) and the Hungaroring (eight).

Despite Ferrari’s positive start to the year, Carlos Sainz is still their most recent victor, having stood on the top step at the 2024 Mexico City GP.

After weeks of hype, Ferrari’s upgrades for the Miami GP were a disappointment, raising further questions about the accuracy of the team’s factory tools.