Sir Lewis Hamilton is a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. This honor awards his contributions to the sport of Formula One. He holds a stellar record in the sport. The driver has 7 world championships to his name, tied with another great, Michael Schumacher, for the most world championships won. 

The Brit has won 103 Grand Prix over his 15-year career. The amount of sweat, both literal and metaphorical, it took to achieve all of this would not be understated. But Formula One is a sport of marginal victories. Teams and drivers have to find out methods that give them that 0.1 second advantage. Each team finds their own ways and means to gain that advantage. And each driver finds what suits him best.

Lewis Hamilton is known for having great starts to races. A video explaining his technique shows how the Brit has mastered his trade. Instead of both hands grabbing the steering handles, he uses his left hand to block the down gear paddle. This technique is most effective for race starts. It helps the driver to avoid mistakenly hitting the down gear paddle. Such a mistake can result in the driver losing pace and not getting the best start possible.

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In this video, we see the steering wheel of an F1 car. It looks completely different from the steering wheel in the cars we drive. It has various buttons, switches, lights, and screens.

Lewis Hamilton’s Steering Wheel Explained

In an interview from 2016, Lewis Hamilton showed his steering wheel. The host asked, “How often are you clicking buttons at any one time?”

Lewis told him that a driver is constantly required to keep using his hands to operate different controls in every lap. He further shows how the steering wheel is used to control “brake balance” which is the “percentage of balance you have on the front and the rear. So you keep moving that from corner to corner”

Although Lewis tries to explain the different controls on his steering wheel, he admits that for an outsider, it is not possible to understand the complexity required to drive an F1 car.

He said “You’re never gonna understand that [speaking about brake migration button]…I’ve got to watch my fuel meter, fuel gauge, and judge when I use the power, when I don’t use the power, when I save, when I don’t save and all those things”.

With every driver having custom steering wheels for their car, the steering wheel is one complex piece of equipment for an outsider to understand.

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The physical strain that an F1 driver goes through has been documented well enough for fans to be aware of. However, one must not forget the technical complexities that exist in driving an F1 car.