How Ferrari is helping Hamilton settle with Mercedes-inspired steering wheel software

The early indicators have been constructive for Lewis Hamilton. Whereas the group has not been in a position to execute both race weekend in Australia and China completely, Hamilton took his first dash pole and victory in Shanghai as a fine addition to his stint with the Italian powerhouse.

Hamilton has spoken at size about how he’s nonetheless getting up to the mark to extract the utmost out of the 2025 automotive, which is constructed accordingly to a unique philosophy in comparison with the Silver Arrows. Over 12 years at Mercedes, the seven-time world champion naturally constructed up loads of muscle reminiscence by way of how he likes to drive his F1 automobiles.

With margins on the entrance so tight, any minor element could make a distinction. That is why Ferrari has not been shy of taking a look at what Hamilton has been used to at Mercedes and implementing it the place attainable, right down to the steering wheel structure he’s utilizing.

Ferrari caught the attention in Australia by including a personalised welcome message on Hamilton’s steering wheel’s launch display, however the modifications it has made aren’t simply beauty. There are a lot of issues groups can do to customize the steering wheel to a driver’s reference, with Ferrari designing a brand new clutch and kit lever to offer higher ergonomics for Hamilton. The modifications do not cease there both, as a result of on the software program stage it could additionally re-programme how a lot information is supplied, an answer that’s stepping away from what Charles Leclerc makes use of and transferring a lot nearer to what Hamilton loved at Mercedes.

Along with probably the most fundamental metrics like pace, gear, time and delta, Hamilton’s steering wheel additionally shows further data that, on the race display, isn’t current for the Monegasque, resembling a sign of the engine mappings used. Within the higher left space of the display, he’ll discover a sign labelled ‘SOC’ – the state of the cost of his battery pack, with values from 1 to 12 – and ‘ENG’, which stands for the engine map used.

This alternative rests on two causes. At Mercedes, the administration of the ability unit was linked to a single ‘STRAT’ knob situated on the backside of the steering wheel. In distinction, Ferrari has used a unique administration technique, with the varied parts break up up.

Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari and Mercedes mode race comparability

Picture by: Gianluca D’Alessandro

For instance, there are two separate settings for engine (ENG) and hybrid administration (SOC). All through the hybrid period, all of Ferrari’s drivers have stored the hybrid widget on the high, within the space subsequent to the display with a selector wheel. Nonetheless, Hamilton has chosen to maneuver it to the decrease half, whereas making certain all of the selectors on the high replicate the identical configuration he had at Mercedes for differential and braking settings.

That is additionally why, not like Leclerc, Hamilton has requested for each engine and hybrid mode to be added to the display, so he’s all the time conscious of which configuration is getting used, simply as he did on the Silver Arrows. There are additionally further parameters for maintaining a tally of key temperatures.

There are additional variations between how Mercedes and Ferrari handle and show their key settings. The Brackley squad amalgamated many capabilities into simply three dials, half the quantity that may be discovered on the steering wheel of the SF-25. To decide on the chosen, which was displayed on display underneath the gear, a driver simply needed to make use of the ‘STRAT’ knob within the backside left-hand nook.

Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari steering wheel mode formation

Picture by: Gianluca D’Alessandro

In distinction, Ferrari added a fast selector within the centre of the steering wheel to alter which modes is getting used on the fly, which is then displayed on the display within the field beneath the gear. ‘RACE’ is the race mode, ‘BOX’ permits a driver to push earlier than a pitstop, ‘FOR’ is used on the formation lap and ‘PSH’ is utilized in qualifying. Different choices enable drivers to examine tyre information and gasoline consumption.

Another key distinction price mentioning is discovered beneath the window indicating the engine mapping. There’s a field devoted to what Ferrari calls ‘Multi’, i.e. a selector situated on the backside of the steering wheel for secondary settings, which the seven-time world champion additionally requested to have on his display.

That administration goes into extra element than what he was used to in Mercedes, which is likely one of the explanation why there may be extra data on his display than that of his team-mate, who prefers to have much less information to cope with over the course of a lap.

None of these modifications essentially make a giant distinction to how his automotive is being run, but when they pace up simply how shortly Hamilton feels at dwelling aboard his SF-25, then Ferrari’s efforts may have been price it.