The manufacture of any part on a Formula 1 car is a complex process, and the steering wheel is no exception. This has enabled designers to continue with the trend of reducing the steering wheel size, with the typical item now being about half the diameter of that of a normal road car.
The FIA technical regulations state that the driver must be able to get out of the car within five seconds, removing nothing except the steering wheel - so rapid release is vitally important.įormula One cars now run with power assisted steering, reducing the forces that must be transmitted by the steering wheel. This has to be tough enough to take the steering forces, but it also provides the electrical connections between the controls and the car itself. One of the most technically complicated parts of the whole Formula One car is the snap-on connector that joins the wheel to the steering column. The steering wheels are not designed to make more than three quarters of a turn of lock in total, so there is no need for a continuous rim, instead there are just two 'cut outs' for the driver's hands.
This displays warning lights, with colors corresponding to the marshals' flags, to alert drivers to approaching hazards, such as an accident, on the track ahead. Race control can also communicate with the driver via a compulsory, steering-wheel mounted GPS marshalling system. The steering wheel is also used to house instrumentation, normally via a multi-function LCD display screen and - more visibly - the ultra-bright 'change up' RPM lights that tell the driver the perfect time for the optimum gearshift. Buttons tend to be used for 'on/off' (digital) functions, such as engaging the pit-lane speed limiter system, while rotary controls govern functions with multiple settings, such as engine mapping, traction control program (banned after 2008 by FIA rules), fuel mixture and even the car's front-to-rear brake bias and the advent of launch control programs (banned after 2008 by FIA rules), that optimized the race start procedure all required various buttons and toggle switches to enable the driver to fine-tune his car's settings while on-track. Excepting the throttle and brake pedals, few Formula One cars have any controls other than those on the face of the wheel.
The first buttons to appear on the face of the steering wheel were the 'neutral' button (vital for taking the car out of gear in the event of a spin), drinking button and the on-board radio system's push-to-talk button.Īs time went on, the trend continued. Later on, when left foot braking was introduced into Formula One, the clutch pedal was removed and replaced by a fully automatic hydraulic clutch paddle behind the wheel, activated by driver only during the stand still start. Together with the introduction of semi-automatic gearboxes, this was one of the most changing introductions in the history of Formula One, especially on the driver's side. This eliminates the possibility of a driver missing a gear, therefore increasing the smoothness and improving the timing of gearshifts. New Tech Bite: Evolution of F1 Steering Wheels since 1993 Sauber F1 Team - Shared publicly - Jun 21, 2013 A pull on the left paddle will shift one gear down while the right paddle shifts up in a similar way. This system enabled Nigel Mansell to shift gears without having to move a hand away from the steering wheel.
It was introduced as a lever system at the back of the steering wheel.
Ferrari engineer John Barnard was the first to introduce semiautomatic sequential gearbox 1989 in the Ferrari 640, first time driven in Brazilian GP by Nigel Mensel. The advent of complex electronic systems in Formula 1 throughout the 1990s changed all that. As cars grew progressively lower and cockpits narrower throughout the 1960s and 1970s, steering wheels became smaller, so as to fit into the more compact space available. They were normally made from wood (necessitating the use of driving gloves), and in the absence of packaging constraints they tended to be made as large a diameter as possible, to reduce the effort needed to turn. Early F1 cars used steering wheels taken directly from road cars. The first Formula One steering wheel did not have any gauges, any knobs, buttons or dials. Not surprisingly, the purpose of a steering wheel is simple enough - to transmit the driver's input to the steered wheels of the vehicle in question - when that vehicle is a Formula 1 car, however, simple is hardly an appropriate term.