Lewis Hamilton defended after latest Ferrari complaint

Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe has defended Lewis Hamilton following the seven-time world champion's latest Ferrari complaint.

Across the Miami Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton insisted that the SF-26 felt very different to how it did on the simulator, triggering a change in approach for the upcoming race in Canada.

Hamilton was comfortably adrift of the leading pace at the Miami International Autodrome in what was his weakest performance of the season so far.

The 41-year-old is not a huge fan of simulators and is eager to focus on working with his engineers rather than spending time in the sim.

Addressing Hamilton's complaint, Hinchcliffe agreed with the F1 veteran that correlation issues with simulators very much exist.

While simulators have improved considerably in recent years and are capable of producing an incredible level of realism, Hinchcliffe outlined that one key area remains near-impossible to replicate.

Discussing Hamilton's comments on there being a correlation issue between the simulator and the actual car, Hinchcliffe told the F1 Nation podcast: "It's very plausible. I've been there, I've had that experience before.

"Ultimately, a simulation is just that: it's a simulation. It's not the real thing. And I think it's actually easier, as challenging as it is — and it is very challenging — to get the tyre model, the aero model, the engine model, the track model, and all the different elements that you have to get right in the simulator to try and get it to correlate well to the race track.

"The one thing you cannot do is replicate the feeling of a race car from inside the cockpit. You can have it move around the room and simulate a fraction of the G-force that you actually feel in the car, fine, but it's not going to talk to you.

"It's not going to really give you that visceral feedback in the same way. So I've certainly had situations in the past where the car felt a certain way in the sim, and that same setup, when put onto the actual race car, just kind of gave it a different feeling."