(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
Formula One teams and drivers have an awful lot of changes to deal with in 2014 besides the new 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 power train. This season also sees a new brake by wire system which transfers energy under braking to the rear wheels.
Another change for 2014 is the need for a new steering wheel design. The Mercedes AMG F1 Team certainly appear to have gone for the most interesting design for their steering wheel. It is half a steering wheel and looks for all the world like an extremely complicated games console controller. This season, there are less buttons on the wheel but more functions which the driver can cycle through using the three dials located under the display.
Due to the change in the regulations in Formula One for 2014 Mercedes said that their steering wheel design was based on the new V6 power train and the new Energy Recovery System.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg can see the different functions on the larger display. So what do all the different buttons do?
The steering wheel is where the driver has the most input as it is their main tool so while one driver may have the Brake by Wire button on one side of the steering wheel his team mate may have it on theother side of the wheel.
The lights on the top of the steering wheel are standard across all teams as they are warning lights from the FIA for flags, red, yellow and blue and are at the top of the steering wheel.
The different rotary dials on the steering wheel have various functions which are used for:
- Power unit settings
- Energy management during a race
- MGU-K settings
(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
There are so many different functions of the steering wheel. They are as follows:
BB - This is used to manage brake balance settings
OT - The 'Overtake' button
N - Neutral
+10/ +1 Multi - function settings
Radio - Allows communication between the driver and his engineer
DRS - This operates the rear wing DRS flap
Limiter - This is used for to activate the pit-lane speed limit
Marker - This highlights a point of interest for the driver
PC/R - This automatically confirms that the driver has entered the pit-lane and relays this information to the pit-crew in the garage
It is amazing how the Formula One steering wheel has developed over the years. Mercedes bring three steering wheels per driver to each race weekend and as part of their pit-stop practice their crews practice changing the steering wheels in the event that a driver requires a change of steering wheel during a race.
Incredibly it takes 6 weeks to complete the manufacturing process of a steering wheel from start to finish and when it comes to servicing the steering wheel between races it takes 24 man hours.
(Sauber F1 Team)
The above steering wheel is from last year's Sauber C32 and just goes to show the changes that have taken place in the steering wheel technology in just over a season. Although the new designs would have been developed at least a year in advance once team's had an idea of their power trains for 2014 would work.
©Ben Johnston 2014
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