We bring you a great video after the break where Rob Irwin, electronic engineer with McLaren, talks us through four generations of F1 steering wheels.
Irwin starts with the wheel used by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974; it doesn’t get more basic than this. Next is the wheel used on the MP4-4 by Ayrton Senna in 1988.
Mika Hakkinen’s 1998 wheel is when we first see the number of buttons really increase. It’s also the first wheel shown to have gearshift paddles on the back. Still, that’s nothing compared to the confusion and number of choices faced by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson button with the steering wheel they use in today’s F1 car.
We brought you a bit closer to the MP4-26 steering wheel earlier in the year, but this comparison wheels from four separate decades really highlights the level of sophistication of modern day motor racing.
[Thanks to Graeme for the tip]