
Why F1 Steering Wheels Have Over 20 Buttons - And What They All Do - Arjuna
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/04/22/steering-wheels/
======
nikcub
I am surprised that there are not more F1 fans here on HN. It is the best
sport to follow if you are a techie or geek - there is so much advanced
technology involved in the cars and racing that make what happens off the
track and in development just as exciting as the actual races.

These guys are on the cutting edge in a number of fields: materials science,
aerodynamics, computer aided design (there is a car this year that was
designed and tested all in software with no wind-tunnel), energy recovery
systems, fuel performance, tyre compounds, telemetry, computing power and
machine learning with strategy, etc. etc. etc.

~~~
Mc_Big_G
Rabid F1 fan here. What do you think about the introduction of DRS? (DRS is a
"drag reduction system" which allows drivers to move the rear wing to reduce
drag when passing.)

I like that it's making the race more exciting with more passing, but it
doesn't really seem like a fair race at the end. For example, a driver could
lead the whole race and then get passed in the last lap due to the unfair
advantage of the DRS.

~~~
kylec
I know this will probably sound heretical, but I think that there's no such
thing as an "unfair advantage". If we really wanted to see technical
innovation in F1, there would be virtually no restrictions on the cars - just
some basic safety stuff for the drivers.

~~~
hristov
But the DRS does have a lot of rules which may deem it unfair. For example, if
one car is leading and another following, the following car is allowed to use
DRS, but the leading car isn't.

~~~
bborud
well, that's the whole point.

due to the aerodynamics you generally need a 1 to 1.5 second per lap speed
advantage to pass a car. as soon as you get close to the car in front you lose
a lot of downforce. this would not be a problem if the cars were always moving
in a straight line.

to even out the playing field DRS is activated if you are closer to the guy in
front than 1 second at a certain point on the track. once activated the DRS
system can be deployed beyond a certain point.

the alternative is to keep the wings and have parades with almost no
overtaking. or no wings, which would mean no more exciting 5.5g seventh gear
turns. which would kinda suck.

------
iwwr
A case in point that experts can handle complex interfaces, as long as they
provide more control.

~~~
mkinsella
And as long as they are properly trained. None of us would be able to simply
get into an F1 car and figure out what even half of these buttons do.

~~~
ominous_prime
Likely, none of us would be able to simply get into an F1 car and _even drive
it anywhere at all_.

There was a Top Gear episode where Richard Hammond tried to drive an F1 car. I
figured with his experience he could make a decent go at it, but apparently
the cars are so specifically tuned for going fast that it's all-out, or
nothing.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUZJVY-sHo>

~~~
sbierwagen
Specifically, the problem is braking.

In normal use, a F1 car will never be driven _gently._ It will be driven very,
very quickly by a professional, racing against other professionals who are
also driving hard. So the tires have a lot less traction when they're cold,
and the brakes don't work enormously well either.

Hammond needed to be going much faster, just so the car could work properly;
but alas, he's a television show host, not a driver.

------
javanix
At first the "Drink bottle" button seemed pretty ridiculous to me. Then I
remembered that driving 200mph and having to negotiate a water bottle by hand
would probably be impossible.

~~~
there
some perspective on how fast f1 cars are:

mostly road-going race cars: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhu13qp8Oc>

f1 cars:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seget3zOj_8&feature=playe...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seget3zOj_8&feature=player_detailpage#t=11s)

~~~
CWuestefeld
Being at a race _in person_ gives you a very different impression than TV. For
one thing, video doesn't convey the incredibly ability of an F1 car to change
direction.

But maybe the best illustration of your point is obvious at a race. When the
pace car is out -- and mind you, this is a top-of-the-line Mercedes sports
coupe -- it's going around the track just as fast as it can, tires squealing
and the whole works. And the parade of F1 cars is following as if it's a walk
in the park, swerving left-and-right in an effort to keep their tires warm at
such "slow" speeds.

~~~
LokiSnake
The swerving left and right actually does not keep their tires warm,
especially at those lower speeds since they aren't generating enough
downforce. What it can do is communicate to the driver what the tires can do
right now and provide the confidence when they need it. Accelerating/braking
is how they generally put heat into the tires.

~~~
CWuestefeld
Upvoted because you're right about the actual heating effect, or lack thereof.
However, that doesn't change the fact that heat is the stated reason that
drivers are doing it, even if that's (a) only part of the reason, and (b) a
superstition. Drivers, as with other sportsmen, can be very superstitious.

~~~
RobertKohr
I think it is to keep mentally active (aka boredom)

Kinda like when you are waiting for a FPS game to load and you just make
circles with your mouse pointer.

~~~
nkassis
no no no, that's to warm up my arm and get my accuracy up. Same as why I mash
buttons right before starting to play SC2. It's all science no superstitions.

------
StringyBob
Ha - the turbo boost button is Z, not B (but you have to pick up a mushroom
first).

Michael Schumacher was the king of the 'extra controls' on the steering wheel
when back at Ferrari, supposedly changing many of the parameters controlling
car setup while going round a corner. (Insert 'had them before everyone else'
hipster joke here). I'm sure this must have influenced this setup.

However, think of the other side of the coin. Consider the UI design problem
of too much information in an emergency for safety critical systems,
particularly in the context of this article:
<http://en.espnf1.com/williams/motorsport/story/39747.html>

~~~
LokiSnake
To be honest, Barrichello isn't someone you should pay that much attention to
on such topics. I think he's the only F1 driver that still uses his right foot
for braking when it's proven that left foot braking provides a clear
advantage.

Also, F1 highly depends on passive safety systems instead of ones that require
driver input, because when things go wrong, there usually isn't much a driver
can do to fix it anyways.

~~~
peripitea
Do you have a pointer to good info on the left foot braking thing? I wonder if
it's applicable to normal driving as well. I remember thinking that right-
footed braking seemed dumb when I was learning to drive. The best explanation
anyone could give me was that in a panic you might slam on both pedals, which
didn't seem like a great argument.

~~~
PedroCandeias
When driving a stick shift, you'll frequently need to shift gears while either
accelerating or braking, meaning your left foot must always be free to operate
the clutch while the right foot is either on the throttle or the brakes.

If you get into the habit of braking with your left foot while driving an
automatic, you'll have real problems whenever the need arises to drive a
manual. I think that's a much better reason.

------
rbanffy
It's the Emacs of driving!

~~~
eru
Doesn't seem to use chording.

~~~
LokiSnake
Exactly. vi4life!

~~~
eru
It's not too modal, either.

------
Peroni
Interesting to note that the steering wheel alone costs in the region of $40k.

~~~
jpk
Probably because they're not mass-produced. For some enterprise-level
prototype printers at Lexmark, it costs around 40-50k to produce one, but once
they reach production, the consumer only pays a few thousand for one.

------
asmithmd1
They show the wheel clicking into place after the driver is in. How many
contacts do you think they have between wheel and car? Is it some kind of
serial protocol where they only need 2 wires? RS-485 maybe

~~~
reedlaw
Should be no more complex than a laptop dock connector which also clicks in
place.

~~~
idonthack
except for, you know, the part where it has to fit onto the end of the
steering column between the drivers' knees, withstand strong forces without
malfunctioning or becoming dangerous, and operate in all weather conditions.

~~~
julianz
An example of the forces involved on the steering wheel - Petrov's crash
earlier this year where he jumped the car and the steering column broke:
[http://videos.larioja.com/informaciondecontenido.php?con=343...](http://videos.larioja.com/informaciondecontenido.php?con=3437)

------
Swizec
The biggest surprise was when he alluded to the fact that when going through a
corner you have to change differential settings three times ... I imagine just
taking a corner at those speeds would be hard enough, let alone playing around
with buttons while doing it.

~~~
bruce511
I didn't interpret it like that. I think that while they may fiddle for
balance (for example as the fuel burns off, and the weight comes down, or as
the tyres wear etc), I'm not sure they change it for each corner. He mentioned
there was a setting for "high speed" corners so I think it's a case of getting
the optimum setup for a lap, and then running with that for a while.

While there are a lot of switches, it's noticable that the ones they'd want to
use a lot, like the KERS, are very close to the fingers in their normal
position, whereas the ones which are more "setup" or "fiddle" are closer to
the centre of the wheel. I don't think they go through a corner with one hand
on the wheel and the other adjusting something in the middle of the steering
wheel.

Still I suppose when the xBox "F1 Controller" of "tomorrow" comes out, we'll
all find out. (Alas without the G-Forces...)

~~~
CWuestefeld
_while they may fiddle for balance (for example as the fuel burns off, and the
weight comes down, or as the tyres wear etc), I'm not sure they change it for
each corner._

Actually, the setup of the car is not active at all, except for brake bias
(which is set via a mechanical lever on the cockpit wall). There is no way to
change ride height, stiffness, etc., dynamically.

About 20 years ago there was a period in which everything about the cars were
dynamic (culminating in the Williams FW-14B [1]). The ride height and other
suspension settings, etc., were all under electronic control, so that the
setup could be altered for every corner. And thanks to bidirectional
telemetry, these settings were actually controlled remotely from the pits
without the driver needing to intervene. However, the arms race of complexity
and cost led teams to agree to a ban on this technology. It's a bit of a
shame, because the engineering had become every bit as interesting as the
racing itself.

[1] <https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Williams_FW14>

~~~
bmj
This is typically the case in most types of auto racing. In some cases (the
WRC comes to mind), it was pushing manufacturers out of the sport because they
couldn't keep up with the costs.

~~~
CWuestefeld
_In some cases (the WRC comes to mind), it was pushing manufacturers out of
the sport because they couldn't keep up with the costs._

Not that I disagree with your point, but there's another factor in WRC:
Sebastian Loeb.

If sponsors want to be associated with winning teams, then there's really no
point in sponsoring any team besides Citroen. There's very little chance of
anyone other than Loeb winning the championship, and good luck waiting for a
podium that he's not standing on.

I think you can see this (albeit less clearly) after late 80s F1. A McLaren
team-up of Senna and Prost delivered the best two drivers, plus Honda and
McLaren's engineering skill; there was little opportunity for anyone else to
compete. The result was a decade of competitive wasteland as the sport
recovered (giving such lame drivers as, imho, Damon Hill, an opportunity to
win a World Driving Championship). It wasn't until a combination of
Schumacher's skill and Ferrari resurgence that things got at all interesting
again.

~~~
eftpotrm
Sort of, but I'm not sure I'd quite agree with your history.

Prost and Senna were alone toe-to-toe for 3 years, 1988-90. Senna wasn't a
realistic threat before then (neither was Prost in '87), while '86-87 the
dominant battle was between Mansell and Piquet at Williams. But, yes, 1988-90,
Senna and Prost carved things up between them. After that...

1991, Ferrari (Prost's team) were nowhere, there was a late season challenge
to Senna from Mansell's Williams but they'd had too much early season
unreliability

1992, Ferrari were worse than nowhere, McLaren were comprehensively trounced
too. Mansell walked it for Williams

1993, Prost wins relatively comfortably from Senna with a major car advantage.

1994, Prost retires and Senna dies.

There were then:

* 2 years of Benetton & Schumacher

* 2 years of Williams, Hill then Villeneuve

* 2 years of McLaren & Hakkinen

and we're now a) out of the 10 year window and b) into the Schumacher &
Ferrari juggernaut.

Now, I've heard a number of expert commentators suggest that Schumacher's
record is flattered by the opposition he faced, I wouldn't disagree that
Hakkinen, Hill and in particular Villeneuve are perhaps not the strongest
champions F1 ever saw and I'm not sure this period of F1 was necessarily the
most competitive. BUT - I definitely don't agree with your characterisation of
F1 history there.

------
temptemptemp13
Why can't he show us the back?

~~~
PedroCandeias
Teams try not to show anything they don't absolutely have to, whether they
have secrets there or not. It's just how they roll.

Mercedes, however, do have something called a "magic paddle". So they do have
an actual reason for keeping the back of the steering wheel away from prying
eyes.

~~~
Arjuna
Here is a short video clip of a reporter attempting to get Mercedes GP's team
principal Ross Brawn to disclose the details of the "Magic Paddle":
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luWuJx2Ukik>

------
Arjuna
It is interesting to note how F1 technology makes its way into consumer cars.

Take Ferrari, for example. Although first introduced in the F430, the 458
Italia features a steering wheel-mounted manettino dial that allows the driver
to configure settings that directly impact the speed of gearbox changes,
traction control settings and differential settings.

Starting at about 1:05, this video demonstrates how the various manettino
settings are utilized on the 458 Italia, and how they modify the vehicle's
driving profile.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGFP1644aU>

------
singular
Video discussing lotus's steering wheel -
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Zkbbfygjw>

and one with Lewis Hamilton discussing his -
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcMvt0rO20g> \- though he does get talked over
in Italian (I think it is).

------
jasongullickson
So how does this compare to a NASCAR wheel? ;)

~~~
adestefan
A NSACAR wheel is pretty simple. A radio button and that's about it. They put
the controls on the dash. Remember a NASCAR car and F1 car have different
requirements. An F1 car's goal is to go as fast as possible and nothing else.
A NASCAR car's goal is to go pretty fast, but take a beating while doing it.

~~~
samwillis
F1 cars tend to go round a few different types of corner as well ;-)

~~~
adestefan
And F1 drivers need a special button so they don't speed on pit road. What's
your point? They're different types of racing.

~~~
matt_s
The point was that NASCAR only turns left, or so the joke goes.

~~~
mgarfias
Except that they don't. NASCAR has had road courses for as long as I can
remember.

------
swah
Is this considered ugly by minimalist (say Apple like) oriented designers?
Could an UI like this, to be used by experts most efficiently, be redesigned
with a minimalistic mindset, or the complexity of the underlying system has to
appear?

~~~
po
This _is_ designed to be used by experts most efficiently. This is already
minimalist. Single function (non-modal) buttons are the fastest, most fail-
proof way of controlling state. Peek into the cockpit next time you get into a
plane. I was actually a bit surprised that there is a "Multifunctional Rotary
Switch" which appears to be modal.

Don't confuse visual minimalism with actual simplicity. I believe BMW did that
with their iDrive system.

------
Groxx

      B      : Activates Kinetic Energy Recovery System
      Oil    : Activates supplementary oil tank for engine
      PL     : Turn pit lane speed limiter on/off
      Tyre   : Adjust electronics to suit different tyres
    

Any idea why those aren't automatic? I'd think you'd have some computer-
detectable indication for when oil would be useful, pit-lanes are identifiable
by detecting location, and send the tire type over wirelessly when changed.
And why _wouldn't_ you want KERS running?

Seriously, I'm asking. I'm not an F1 buff.

When you have that much on the wheel, I'd think removing what you can would be
important. Especially given the very-early line:

> _This year designers have had to squeeze in buttons for [KERS] and Drag
> Reduction Systems along with the usual array of toggles, switches and
> levers._

Removing 4 buttons would seem to be an improvement, though a bit of a drop in
a bucket.

~~~
adhipg
1\. The radios on these cars go bad all the time - saw the number of backup
buttons for when that happens?

2\. KERS - you are limited to use it only for 6.6 seconds per lap - and, the
driver gets to decide when to use it. Thus, it has to be a button.

3\. PL: PL ensures that you don't go above or below the 75 KPH or whatever
speed limit each track has. This zone is marked by a well defined line at the
start and the end of the zone. I don't think that GPS is that accurate to turn
this on/off automatically - especially considering the importance hundredths
of seconds makes in this sport. Second, you don't want a car suddenly braking
automatically or find the accelerator free automatically when the driver's not
really prepared for the exact moment.

4\. Oil: I believe this is in place for a 'what-if' scenario.

5\. Tyre: Again, I am sure that this is in place because of the 'what-if-
radio-does-not-work' scenario.

There isn't really any space to have levers anywhere else on the car like the
hidden bonnet/boot switch and the backups also find their way to the steering
wheel! ;-)

------
splatcollision
I love the user interface design work that goes into the F1 wheels - and
they're all completely custom by each team, for each driver. Great website as
well.

------
gigantor
D - Drink Bottle - Perhaps the most important button? Performance and
concentration does increase quite a bit when you're properly hydrated.

~~~
tobylane
They've mentioned it breaking in hot muggy countries, I think Coulthard said
he lost a few kilos.

------
vegasbrianc
So how many more seasons before the drivers become obsolete and the engineer
in the pits controls the entire car?

~~~
jimbokun
Could probably do it now, but no one would watch.

~~~
vegasbrianc
F1 robo series maybe?

I agree the driver still has a lot of influence. But, if drones can fly around
in the skies then a pilotless F1 car is not so unrealistic. Fans liking robo
F1 cars no one really knows for certain but it would be very interesting to
see.

------
bitwize
One activates the buzzsaw blades, one activates the jump, one sends a robotic
messenger bird...

(Yes, I know Speed Racer was rallying and not F1.)

------
unwantedLetters
I watch F1 regularly, but to hear him speak of getting a gain of "tenths of a
second" as a huge thing is still astonishing to me. Must be a frustrating
life. Specially speaking as a software developer, where we're getting a free
doubling of the speed every 18 months. I'm sure Moore's Law will run out at
some point, but I can never quite appreciate exactly how much that helps us.
The helps give a little perspective.

~~~
sspencer
Just be glad you don't work on high-frequency trading systems if "tenths of a
second" seems like a frustratingly small gain. Our office erupts into cheers
when we shave a microsecond or even 500 nanoseconds off our loop times. :)

~~~
zwieback
Loop of what, some kind of numerical iteration? Sounds like fun, what kind of
platform is this on. I assume any kind of OS or HLL is out of the question.

~~~
akronim

        I assume any kind of OS or HLL is out of the question.
    

Not really, computers are fast! Per message costs of a few microseconds are
pretty standard even in Java/C# stuff.

------
zbowling
Someone from Apple needs to visit them. Create the iF1 with one button,
capacitive touch screen, and GESTURES!

