The small difference
04/28/2015
In motor racing, especially in the premier class Formula 1, technology changes in small steps from race to race. If you then look at a few decades in fast motion, the leap becomes clearly visible.
The steering wheel of the Mercedes W196 from 1955 became the control panel of the F1 W06 Hybrid of today (2015). Not only did it become around three quarters smaller, it also acquired a few more functions over the course of time.
Fangio, Moss and Hermann were able to steer a car with the steering wheel, as the name suggests. Hamilton and Rosberg can do a lot more with it. The steering wheel offers the driver around 35 ways to distract themselves from the actual driving. It has become more and more like a Play Station console and now has endless buttons. In addition to the clutch and paddle shifters on the back, there are also settings for the differential (corner entry and exit), DRS activation, pit limiter (cruise control for the pit lane), warning lights for danger zones, information from race control, pit radio, high-speed differential setting, race start mode, engine settings, a multifunctional selector for around 20 other settings such as battery storage, turbo, etc., "Overtake" for releasing more horsepower, differential setting (mid-corner), parameter adjustment for the engine brake and and and ...
Juan Manuel Fangio and his colleagues probably never had to deal intensively with their steering wheels, as is naturally expected of today's drivers, because they have to press, turn or pull the right button at the right moment without thinking in order to stay in the race or win it.
The absolute only thing the two steering wheels shown have in common is their "detachability" from the steering column to make it easier for the driver to get in and out of the car (1955) or to make it possible at all (2015).
