Daniel Ricciardo had been a part of Red Bull for a while before Max Verstappen made his debut in 2016. Now, for rookie drivers, it is common to learn from their senior teammates and emulate their setups in their initial days. However, Verstappen went a step ahead and copied Ricciardo’s entire steering wheel setup itself.
According to Motorsport.com, the Dutchman revealed this detail during the unveiling of the RB20. He said, “When I arrived at Red Bull eight years ago, I basically adopted this design from Daniel [Ricciardo] and it hasn’t changed much since then. Yeah, I copied it all from him.”
Max Verstappen highlighted that Ricciardo‘s steering setup goes well with his aggressive driving style. Hence, the three-time world champion believes it was a “logical thing” to take such insights from his senior teammate. So to date, he uses the same design, with minor changes over the years.
Verstappen then also justified why he doesn’t wish to change his steering wheel setup. He mentioned if he is “happy with how the steering works”, then he sees no need to change anything as such.
Over the years, Max Verstappen has had to make some adjustments to his steering wheel. This was when Red Bull Racing switched engine suppliers in 2019 from Renault to Honda. However, the Dutchman cited that those changes were not major and not very relevant. It was just to get it more in line with Honda’s requirements.
The quirks of an F1 Steering wheel
When Walter Koster cited in the famous 2014 press conference how Sebastian Vettel once stated that he had to start his car like a computer, it gave people an idea of how complicated an F1 steering may be. That is the reason every steering wheel is customized as per a driver’s needs.
Normally, an F1 steering wheel has roughly 25 different buttons and switches, according to Mercedes F1’s official website. So, teams have to customize the layout of all these buttons to ensure the driver is comfortable and knows the positions of all his switches.
It is naturally up to the driver to handle all the settings of his steering wheel during a Grand Prix. To juggle the concentration of keeping the car on track at 200 mph and hitting the right buttons at the right time is all the talent and skill that drivers get millions of dollars in salary for.
Shifting gears using the gear paddles, and changing their brake balance for different corners, all these aspects need hours and hours of testing and practice. Naturally, drivers get used to it, and making changes to their steering wheel becomes a part of their subconscious.
The cost of an F1 steering wheel is around $50,000, according to Red Bull’s official website. However, there are no reliable reports that accurately estimate the price of F1 steerings of different teams and drivers.
Still, the approximate range will be around $50k to $100k. Given a driver carries around three to four steering wheels at a race, this cost is estimated to be between $200k and $300k.
