Laser shock peening (LSP) is a surface treatment which improves the fatigue life of metallic structures by laser‐induced compressive residual stresses. The purpose of this work is the prediction of the measured residual stresses after LSP in sheets consisting of AA2198. Therefore, a finite element model is set‐up. The Johnson‐Cook material model is used to model the strain rate depend material behaviour during plastic deformations. Stress averaging enables the comparison between measured and predicted residual stresses. Residual stress measurements are performed using the incremental hole drilling method. The initially unknown pressure pulse is identified for AA2198‐T3 and validated with AA2198‐T8. (© 2017 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)