What are the functions of the steering wheel of an F1 car

A typical F1 car steering wheel will have a lot more control buttons than the general car steering wheel, these buttons have to complete the following functions: control clutch, control engine shutdown, control gear shift, radio intercom, speed limit to enter the repair station, engine speed limit, brake force balance adjustment, air and fuel mix ratio adjustment, car comprehensive information display control (including engine data, fuel consumption and lap time, current gear indication, etc.), There are also pre-programmed control programs and various flashing warning lights. In addition, some steering wheels are equipped with control buttons for the driver to drink.

The F1 driver is the sole owner of the car, and the steering wheel is the driver's direct tool to control the car. For an F1 driver who wants to stay on top of the car and thus drive it, the colourful control buttons on the steering wheel and the necessary information display system are essential. In order to facilitate manoeuvring and observation at speeds of up to 300 km/h or more, all switch buttons and information displays are placed directly in the circumference of the steering wheel.

At the same time, as technology evolves, Formula 1 cars are becoming more and more integrated with ergonomics. It can be said that the steering wheel is a high-tech multi-functional control center in Formula 1 cars.

Hello, Landlord: Including the red flag in the radio-controlled event with the speed limit for shifting gears into the pits. Yellow flags, etc.

There also seems to be a reverse button on the F1 steering wheel.

F1 drivers don't have time to control a lot of configurable devices on the car, or try to look at those little gauges, so F1 cars now have almost all the control and display elements in front of the driver, that is, on the steering wheel, so the steering wheel has become the most important interface between the car and the driver.

In the early days, F1 steering wheels were actually the same as commercial cars, mostly made of wood, so much so that racers had to wear leather gloves to reduce friction between their palms and fingers and the steering wheel. Before the use of power-assisted steering, the diameter of the steering wheel was as large as possible to reduce the need for the driver to turn the steering wheel in addition to fighting the G-force when cornering. In the 60s and 70s, the height of vehicles became lower and the cockpits narrower and narrower, and the traditional steering wheel was no longer suitable for use, so the steering wheel began to become smaller.

The use of multi-function steering wheels should start with the use of semi-automatic transmissions. At that time, the steering wheel had to be set with shift buttons, which were set closest to the driver's fingers after holding the steering wheel. And with the semi-automatic transmission, there is also a "neutral" button in the middle of the steering wheel, which is very important for quickly discharging the transmission into neutral after a slippage.

The next thing that appears on the steering wheel** is the "Call" button, which the driver can press to talk to someone in the pits.

With the use of various technologies, all the control elements of modern F1 cars are probably set on the steering wheel, except for the accelerator and brake pedals. Push-button switches are used for switching functions, such as the speed limit must be turned on when entering the pit and turned off when leaving. The knob is used to adjust functions such as tracking control and fuel density, and even the ratio of front and rear braking forces, which drivers expect to be able to adjust themselves as car or track conditions change.

What is really on the steering wheel, in addition to each team's own logo, is the display screen. Usually accompanied by the screen are so-called "overturn lights" – signals that indicate when the driver should change gears. The number of steering wheel laps in F1 cars usually does not exceed three-quarters of a turn, so the steering wheel does not have to be completely round, and usually only has the steering wheel width where the driver holds it, which also increases the area of the steering wheel**.

Speaking of which, as you can imagine, attaching this detachable steering wheel to the car's axles is one of the most complex mechanisms in an F1 car. The original role of the steering wheel is to be responsible for the steering of the vehicle, and if it cannot be sacrificed, it must also be able to connect the control routes of various mechanisms. The FIA stipulates that a driver must be able to exit the cabin within five seconds of being seatbelted without the assistance of an external force.

Therefore, the quick-release and easy-to-disassemble design of the steering wheel has become very important.

Thanks to the steering assist, the size of the steering wheel is no longer a factor that determines the amount of force a driver has to apply when steering, so the diameter of the F1 steering wheel is now only about half that of a commercial car.

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As you can see, around 1972 F1 there were electronic control buttons on the steering wheel; It wasn't until about 50 years after the first F1 race that the F1 steering wheel gradually said goodbye to the round shape; And the F1 steering wheel fully evolved into a gamepad-like style around the late 90s of the last century.

In addition to the strange shape of today's F1 steering wheel, the most eye-catching feature is that there are many buttons. I used to wonder how F1 drivers could use every button on the steering wheel accurately and without making mistakes in high-intensity, extremely fast races. And some of the buttons and knobs are too close to the driver's thumb with fireproof gloves.

Take the steering wheel of F1 2018 champion Lewis Hamilton as an example, and you can count how many function controls there are on the small steering wheel. 12 buttons, 6 wheels, 3 knobs, 2 paddle shifters and an LCD display with 25 LEDs.

In fact, the layout of the steering wheel buttons is different for each driver, and the team will customize the steering wheel according to the driver's personal operating habits and palm size. Although the layout styles are different, basically the function of each button and knob is basically the same. For example:

With the push of a button, the driver can select the vehicle information that appears on the LCD display, such as engine speed, time difference from the car in front, tire temperature, and more. At the same time, the driver can also use the buttons on the steering wheel to select the working mode of different systems and components on the car, such as adjusting the braking force allocated to each wheel, the working state of the differential, the fuel-saving sprint mode of the car, etc.

Although the Mercedes-AMG team did not give a specific function of each button, it was possible to get some information from the letters on the buttons. "BB" means brake balance, which is used to adjust the distribution of braking force; "n" stands for neutral, press this button when you are in neutral when you enter the pit; "PL" is an abbreviation for Pit Lane, which opens the speed limiter in the pit lane when pressed.

But what exactly did the team engineers do to prevent drivers from misusing the buttons on the steering wheel during the race?

In general, the button settings on the F1 steering wheel have an anti-misoperation mechanism that ordinary machines cannot match. While no one can guarantee that these measures will be 100% effective, drivers certainly won't accidentally get into neutral when they want to overtake with DRS.

Who do you think will win the first race of the new F1 season?

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