Have you ever stopped to wonder what a Formula 1 driver puts 100% of their faith in as they hurtle around the race track at speeds of well over 200mph? The brakes? The titanium survival cell surrounding them? The cockpit fire-suppression system perhaps?
Well it’s actually the steering wheel in front of them, but that steering wheel is unlike anything you’d find in even the most expensive super car – it’s not even round - it's more like a games controller, packed with the kind of cutting edge technology you might find in a state of the art fighter jet.
Aimed at 8-12 year-olds, our new kids book Formula Fast is packed with the kind of facts and figures that will dazzle it’s intended age group and petrol heads of any age.
The lavishly illustrated 64-page must-have handbook to Formula One is packed with amazing facts about incredible cars, iconic tracks and legendary drivers past and present, from Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, and Desiré Wilson – one of only five women to compete in the sport.
Starting with a fun and friendly introduction to all things Formula One – what is a Grand Prix? How many drivers race? What are the rules? – Formula Fast, written by Matt Ralphs, revs up by touching on the early days of F1, before steering the reader through all key aspects of the modern sport, featuring in-depth guides to steering wheel set-ups and tyre options, profiles of famous racing teams and truly mind-blowing driver stats, a timeline of technical developments and a glossary of key terms.
For this story we’re focusing on the steering wheel, which as you’ll immediately understand when you look at the pic above, is unlike anything you’ll find in a family car. Instead, every F1 ‘steering wheel’ is customized to each driver with dozens of buttons, paddles and switches that can be programmed to do hundreds of jobs.
Here are the 15 fascinating things you’ll find going anticlockwise around the ‘wheel’ in our pic.
DRAG REDUCTION SYSTEM (DRS) - Pressing this opens the car’s rear wing. This reduces drag and provides an extra burst of speed.
DIFFERENTIAL - Pressing this opens the car’s rear wing. This reduces drag and provides an extra burst of speed.
NEUTRAL - This puts the car into neutral (a gear that disconnects the engine from the driving wheels). It is only pressed when the car has stopped.
GRIPS - Grips (or handles) are made from rubber using a mould of the driver’s hands. All the wheel’s buttons are within reach of their thumbs.
OVERTAKE - This button releases stored battery energy to give the car a speed boost. It is usually used when drivers are trying to overtake (go past another car).
STRAT - ‘Strat’ stands for ‘strategy’. This switch changes the engine mode, usually to alter its power. For example, it can be adjusted to give the engine extra power to overtake.
HPP - This adjusts the power unit settings for the hybrid engine. These are usually set by engineers before the race begins.
BBaL - Pressing this changes the brake balance between the front and rear wheels. This affects the car’s stability: too much rear brake can cause the car to spin; too much front brake can stop it from turning.
CLUTCH - Used to start and stop the car. The driver holds one of the clutch paddles at the start of the race and releases it when the starting lights go out to begin racing.
TALK - In a race, driver and team are in constant communication. This button opens and closes a radio channel between them, a bit like a walkie-talkie.
GEAR PADDLES - Gear changes – called upshifts and downshifts – are made using these finger paddles on either side of the wheel.
PIT CONFIRM - Drivers press this to confirm they are coming in for a pit stop. It warns the pit crew to get ready.
PIT LIMITER - This prevents the car from going faster than the speed limit (usually 80 km/h) in the pit lane.
LEDs - Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) show the driver key information. Some flash in different colours to show the track’s condition.
DISPLAY SCREEN - This provides vital information such as the car’s speed, gear and lap numbers.
Packed with facts and stats for dedicated petrol-heads, but accessible to those who are simply car curious, Formula Fast is ready to top the podium in 2026. Take a closer look at Formula Fast.
