JANUARY 26, 2011

Simulator problems hinder Schumacher preparations

Michael Schumacher's 2011 preparations have not been helped by motion sickness problems affecting his time in the team's simulator, although the team says it is not a major issue.

Michael Schumacher's 2011 preparations have not been helped by motion sickness problems affecting his time in the team's simulator, although the team says it is not a major issue.

The phenomenon is not unique to the seven times champion, with Pedro de la Rosa admitting that extended simulator sessions can make you feel queasy when he was a McLaren tester.

"Throughout his career, Michael from time to time has been susceptible to sickness which has affected the length of time that he can spend on a simulator," Mercedes explained: "This is a relatively common occurrence for many people in all fields of simulator activity including military, aircraft and racing cars.

"Michael has not been disadvantaged as together with his engineers he has made his simulation work effective. The simulator is one of a number of tools drivers use to prepare for the race weekend and the condition has not adversely affected Michael's race preparation or his competitiveness with regard to his team-mate.

"The situation has been exacerbated by the level of our current simulator technology. For many reasons we have invested in higher-quality and more realistic simulation equipment which will be completed and available for our drivers shortly."