A Formula 1 steering wheel is darn complicated

Posted on 07-06-2014 at 17:32 by sir_smokalot – 36 Comments”

F1-stuur
So many buttons….and they all have an important function!

Dexter’s sister DeeDee had used the words: what does this button do? Wherefore, that we are going to explain to you. What you do for your nose to see is a wheel of a Sauber C33 (hi-res), the car that Gutierrez and Sutil this season all six races long, very disappointing. But who knows, the racegoden them tomorrow in Canada is more favourable mood.

To curve translations of the specialized language to avoid let the text stand as it is. For a computeroverzichtje of steering wheel and button functions there is THIS hi-res image:

Yellow N button: Selects neutral from 1st or 2nd gear.

BRKBAL (brake balance) rotary switch: Adjusts the front and rear brake balance.

Black Box button: Confirms the driver’s intention to come to the pits.

Blue and orange S1/S2 buttons: These can be programmed for various funcutions.

Entry rotary switch: This allows the driver to make changes to corner entry settings of the differential.

Orange and green BRK-/BRK+ buttons: These change the brake balance between a programmed position and the current BRKBAL rotary position.

IGN (ignition) rotary switch: Controls ignition timing.

White ACK (acknowledge) button: Acknowledges changes in the system.

PREL (preload) rotary switch: Controls the preload differential offset torque.

Red Oil button: Transfers oil from the auxiliary tank to the main tank.

Black BP (bite point) button: Activates the clutch bite point finding procedure.

DRS (drag reduction system) button, upper left edge of the wheel: Activates the rear wing flap in the DRS zone.

Red PL (pit lane) button: Activates the pit lane speed limiter, limiting the car to the designated pit lane speed limit (typically 100 km/hr).

Black R button: Activates the driver radio transmission.

SOC rotary switch: Controls the state of charge of the ERS energy storage system, whether the system is generating or consuming energy.

Pedal rotary switch: Changes the pedal map dictating how the accelerator pedal responds to inputs.

Fuel rotary switch: Controls the rate of fuel consumption.

Black OT button: Activates configurable performance maps to assist the driver in overtaking or defending.

Tire rotary switch: Tells the ECU and other systems what type of tire the car is running on.

BBal-/BBal+ switches: These are used to make fine adjustments to the brake balance offset.

MFRS (multi-function rotary switch): This allows the driver and engineers to control a variety of systems that don’t require a dedicated buttons. They include engine modes (PERF), rev limiter (ENG), air-fuel ratio (MIX), turbo-compressor (TURBO), corner exit differential (VISCO), MGU-K recovery limits (BRK), MGU-K boost limits (BOOST), dashboard options (DASH), cruise control (CC, disabled for qualifying and the race), shift type (SHIFT), and the clutch bite point offset (CLU).

White -10/+1 buttons: These allow quick navigation or maps from the MFRS dial.

If you like this so watching it is downright amazing that Lewis Hamilton during races constantly would manage to get themselves on the radio as a small child to behave. But perhaps it is getting used.