At the conclusion of a Formula One practice or qualifying session, when the cars return to the garage and the circuit falls silent, the work of BWT Alpine Formula One Team is far from over.

In this instance, after sprint qualifying in Shanghai, China, thousands of miles away in a dark simulator room at Enstone, Academy driver Gabriele Mini is still at the wheel.

It is one of the least visible jobs in the sport, but one that plays an important role across a race weekend, especially at flyaway events, when time zone differences mean the work often stretches deep into the night in the UK. From the moment the weekend begins, Gabriele is already part of the process.

“From the Thursday we are testing items and establishing the setup for Pierre and Franco so they can correlate our ideas to the real-world track,” explains Gabriele [speaking from the simulator back in March].

That early work in the simulator helps establish a baseline before the on-track action begins. But once the first laps are completed, fresh data is sent back to Enstone, where the team at base can begin another long stint of running.

“We’ll be reviewing data after Free Practice, working on test items, and after a good eight or nine hours behind the wheel, we’ll send back our data and my own feedback to the track,” says Gabriele.

“Sometimes the changes are so small, it is not really visible on the data, so it is really a lot related to me and what I explain to the engineers.”

The work of correlating data and feeding back ideas is a continuous process throughout the weekend, and it can be especially demanding for long-haul races. For the Shanghai Sprint, Gabriele was in the simulator before and after FP1, which began at 3.30am UK time.

It was an especially demanding spell for the young Italian, who had just returned from Melbourne, where he had been the biggest gainer in positions during the opening weekend of the FIA Formula 2 season.

“It can be exhausting, but it’s a crucial part of the job, and it’s also good for me to compare myself with the race drivers. It’s what we have to do if we want to reach our dreams, so I’m really happy to do this.”

An Alpine Academy member

Gabriele Mini was born in March 2005 in Palermo, Sicily, and was soon karting, winning his first title at the age of 12. He made his single-seater debut in 2020, competing in Italian F4 and becoming the youngest champion in the series at the age of 15.

The Italian joined the Alpine Academy in 2023 and raced that year in FIA Formula 3 for Prema. In his second season, he narrowly missed out on the title at the final round in Monza. Undeterred, he stepped up for a full season of Formula 2 last year with Prema, and has since moved to MP Motorsport for 2026. The 21-year-old has also undertaken a couple of rookie outings in Formula E, alongside his simulator work for Alpine.

While his immediate focus is on the next F2 rounds, now rescheduled for Miami and Montréal, he will continue to spend time at Enstone helping the team correlate its driver-in-loop simulator work for future development.

“As well as being hard work, it’s also a lot of fun,” says Gabriele. “It’s the best sim by far that I’ve ever driven, so it’s really realistic.”

The long hours, often spent deep into the night, demand concentration and consistency. But they also give Gabriele the chance to contribute directly to a Formula One race weekend from behind the scenes. It’s a quiet but vital role in the wider team effort to unlock lap time, and an important opportunity for the young Academy driver to gain valuable Formula One experience.