Sim racing is officially mainstream thanks to Formula One and these simulator builders are reaping the rewards

For several years, sim racing has been seen as ‘uncool’ or a ‘sweaty gamer’ pastime, but thanks in part to Formula One drivers, Cool Performance Simulators have helped make it mainstream.

Cool Performance Simulators work with some of the best drivers in the world, including 2025 Formula One World Champion Lando Norris and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson.

At Supercar Blondie, we were lucky enough to chat with Joel Somerville, the CMO of the company, about how it started and the success the company has had.

The simulators it offers are some of the coolest in the world, and best of all, you can buy one to use in your own home.

How Cool Performance Simulators started

While you might think sim racing is quite new, it actually started much longer ago than you’d expect.

“We’ve been in the business for around about 15 years or so now, quite a long time now,” Somerville told Supercar Blondie.

When the business started, it was a far cry from what the company offers today.

“It was much more on the one-to-one driver training side of things, working with drivers in a lot of different racing categories, from I guess when they start single seaters,” he added.

That includes series such as Formula 3 and Formula 4, as well as endurance and GT racing.

Back then, it was more than just a game, as drivers found track time in real life was often hard to come by.

As Somerville said, driving a simulator helped drivers to train and get up to speed a little bit quicker.

“We’d work one-to-one with the drivers to help them find a little bit more time here or there,” said Somerville.

“They were finding the simulator was actually giving them that head start.”

As time has gone on, and sim racing has become more widespread, this has enabled the business to expand to personal use.

Now, the company offers all sorts of simulators that anyone can purchase and have installed in their home.

These range from F1 racing simulators to GT racing rigs and even a professional karting sim.

The platforms used by the racing simulators

Sim racing in 2026 has never been so good, with a wide array of simulators available for players and drivers to use.

Some of those, as Somerville told us, stand out more than others.

We asked what software most of the drivers and customers use when they’ve bought a Cool Performance sim.

“For professionals, iRacing is pretty much up there, in terms of social racing and circuits, it’s a huge platform,” he said,

“Back when we started, we were using software called rFactor, where we could apply custom settings; it was open source,” added Somerville.

Now, 15 years after starting the business, drivers can have a Windows PC linked to the rig and use any simulator they like.

Formula One drivers like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will mostly use iRacing.

But others may use simulators such as Assetto Corsa, Le Mans Ultimate, rFactor 2, and more.

Working with real Formula 1 drivers

One of the big success stories for the company has been the work they’ve done with Formula 1 drivers.

The company was actually founded by Oliver Norris, the brother of 2025 F1 champion Lando Norris.

Lando himself is one of several Formula One drivers the company works with.

“We’ve worked with drivers like Lando, George Russell, Alex Albon, and Carlos Sainz,” said Somerville.

“They are in F1 now, but we were working with them in the early stages of their career before they became household names,” he added.

Impressively, the company is also working with eight Formula 3 drivers and 20 in Formula 4.

While they aren’t household names just yet, that could change in a few years.

Plus, while we can’t reveal anything, the company is set to announce that two more current F1 drivers have joined its roster.

How sim racing has beaten the ‘sweaty gamer’ image

For a while, the sim racing industry had a ‘sweaty gamer’ image, but that has changed massively in recent years.

Much of that was down to how the COVID-19 lockdown made esports racing series mainstream.

Events such as the Virtual Le Mans 24 Hours also helped with that.

“From a business perspective, lockdown was very friendly to the industry,” said Somerville.

“Our order books were stocked up for a number of months, so it was good for us and the industry,” he added.

That also helped move sim racing away from that gamer-esque image and towards something fun, but also more serious.

With Formula One drivers such as Verstappen and Norris being heavily involved in sim racing, things are now very different.

Indeed, Verstappen now has his own sim racing team, after rebranding Team Redline to Verstappen Sim Racing.

Simulators such as those from Cool Performance have helped move that image forward over the years.

Making sim racing look cool

The simulators can also be bought by individuals, and even customized to suit their personal tastes.

“People want something that looks amazing,” said Somerville.

“We build them ourselves, we fully customize them like coachbuilt cars, we can even put carbon fiber elements onto it, custom seating, stitching, you name it, we do it.”

The company makes most of the components in-house, too, ranging from the Formula One-style steering wheels and pedals to the rig structure.

So not only does driving it feel good, but a huge effort is made to make them look good as well.

Things show no sign of slowing down either, with business booming and more drivers being added to the roster.

Cool Performance Simulators is at the forefront of racing simulators in the UK, USA, and around the world.

It is truly remarkable to see how far the business has come in just a few years.

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