It appears as if McLaren’s new steering wheel could be behind the Woking based squad’s recent surge in form with Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen going from struggling to keep up with their rivals at Ferrari in France a month ago to winning back to back dominating victories at Silverstone and Hockenheim.
Hamilton won by over a minute in the rain soaked British Grand prix, and although he wasn’t miles ahead in Germany, he would have been if not for a safety car and the team’s decision not to pit when the rest of the field did. Instead he came in under green flag conditions several laps later, only to make his way back from fifth to first, with a few seconds to spare in just sixteen laps.
Although there is no doubt about Hamilton’s driving finesse, the domination we have seen in these recent races has left other teams scratching their heads, but it claims by the Telegraph are to be believed, the answer is quite simple.
It appears as if the MP4-23’s steering wheel is a little different from its rivals with four paddle levels instead of the regular two. Two being to change gears and the two additional levers used to adjust engine torque to suit the gear selected, helping to minimize wheel spin in slow corners but retaining speed for the fast ones. The rules indicate that drivers can not select gears and torque settings in one move, so the extra two levers must be used for the car to remain legal.
Just how long it will be before other teams use this technology, or the FIA bans it, is anyone’s guess, but if it is the reason for their upward turn in performance, you can bet it won’t take Ferrari too long to be right up there with them!
So yeah... I guess that would explain it then!
