Ferrari has charged an American company with the task of engineering the best driver simulator in formula one.

With the Italian team's arch rivals McLaren believed to currently possess the best simulator, it emerges that the New York-based firm Moog is working on building a "next-generation" machine to be installed at Maranello.

Moog is involved in the aerospace and defence industries, making aircraft, spacecraft, military weapon and missile controls.

"The dynamic driving simulator is a new step for us in developing virtual tests that give drivers the true feel of a real environment and direct feedback on their actions," Ferrari's head of car performance Marco Fainello confirmed.

Moog also confirmed the news.

Simulators are of growing importance to F1 teams, with Ferrari revealing on Tuesday that it used carmaker partner Fiat's Centro Ricerche facility to prepare for the new layout at Valencia.

But reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen is not a fan of using simulators to prepare for unfamiliar circuits.

"To be honest, that's something I don't like," the Finn admitted. "I've always been able to get to know a new race track very fast."

Source: GMM