An F1 steering wheel is not just a tool for turning the car, like the steering wheel in a normal road car.
In reality, it is closer to a laptop or an aircraft control stick.
It combines information display, an operating panel, and a control device in one highly advanced piece of equipment.
The exact design varies by team and specification, but it is often said that a single F1 steering wheel can cost from several million yen to nearly 10 million yen.
It is made from carbon fibre, which makes it both light and strong.
It is also customised for each driver, making it a truly made-to-order precision device.
And because there are so many buttons on it, it is worth looking at what some of them actually do.
│How many buttons and dials are there?
An F1 steering wheel usually has around 20 to 30 buttons and dials.
At first glance, it almost looks like a game controller taken to an extreme level.
Each button has a specific role. For example:
DRS button
Opens the rear wing on straights and can increase speed by around 15 to 20 km/h.
Drink button
A small button on the wheel that lets the driver drink through a straw.
Radio button
Used to talk to the team. If a driver presses the wrong thing, communication can even be interrupted.
Fuel mode switch
Lets the driver instantly change engine settings between something like a saving mode and an attacking mode.
Differential and brake balance adjustment
Changes the car’s behaviour corner by corner and helps keep it stable.
The remarkable part is that drivers are operating all of this while driving at more than 300 km/h.
It is an almost inhuman level of multitasking.
│The display is full of important information
In the centre of the wheel is a small screen.
There, the driver can quickly check things like speed, gear, remaining fuel, tyre temperatures, and time gaps to rivals.
Depending on the circuit and the situation, the display can also show data directly connected to race strategy, such as the estimated number of laps until the next pit stop or the remaining amount of energy in the recovery system.
This screen can be customised by each team, so that only the most necessary information is shown to the driver.
│The driver cannot even get out without removing it
F1 cockpits are extremely tight, so drivers cannot get in or out of the car without removing the steering wheel first.
That is why the steering wheel is almost like the “key” to the car.
Before the race, on the grid, the driver installs the steering wheel, and only then is the car truly ready to run.
In other words, if the steering wheel is removed, the car cannot be driven even if the engine is running.
The steering wheel in F1 is not just a steering wheel.
It is the command centre of the car.
Its price, its dozens of buttons and dials, and the driver’s ability to use them all in split-second decisions are all part of what makes F1 the ultimate form of motorsport.