What are the key differences between Hamilton's and Leclerc's steering wheel?
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will use different steering wheels in the upcoming season after the seven-time F1 world champion has requested several changes to his F1 steering wheel. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo highlights key differenced between the two configurations.
Having completed several runs with Ferrari's older F1 cars in Fiorano and Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton made his first official appearance as a Ferrari driver at the Bahrain International Circuit, driving the Scuderia's 2025 F1 car on all three days of the pre-season testing.
However, as the three-day winter testing came to a close, the 105-time F1 race winner disclosed that he would have ideally complete more mileage in Manama, but the weather conditions restricted his programme.
"It’s been another positive day for us in Bahrain. We’re making strong progress in understanding the SF-25 and learning how to get the most out of it, and the reliability is good so far which is a really positive sign.
"We didn’t get to do as much running as we hoped because of the weather, but we have more time on track tomorrow to work through our programme and to build even more comfort in the car. I’m really enjoying working with the team and we’re all looking forward to the final push tomorrow."
Asked to reveal how he is settling in at the Scuderia, Hamilton insisted that he still needs to get to used to way Ferrari's car operates.
“We’re testing a bunch of things. So I’m not doing set-up changes or directing where I want the car to go. We’re just going through the motions. Today was a bit more of getting to explore a bit of my interaction with my engineer. So far I really enjoy driving this car.”
“All the settings are so different. So even just brake bias and all those sorts of things, it's much different to what I had in the previous place. It’s not necessarily unlearning what I did before, but kind of relearning this new way of working and where the car likes to be driven.
“It likes to be driven differently. And that's a really fun journey learning that. But at the moment, it feels that we definitely feel the car underneath me. I feel that the car is responding to my inputs," concluded the Briton.
However, it has appeared that the seven-time F1 world champion requested several tweaks to the steering wheel of his Ferrari which means that he will use a different configuration to his new team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The most obvious tweak is the change of the 'N' button of the standard steering wheel. While it stands for neutral on Leclerc's configuration, it is 'CHR' on Hamilton's steering wheel which serves for hybrid regen.
The standard “P” button is for activation of speed limiter, but Hamilton changed this button for “PC” which stands for pit stop confirmation. The speed limiter button has been moved lower on Hamilton's steering wheel.
The DRS button has moved below the CHR button on the seven-time world champion's steering wheel while Leclerc keeps it at the back.
In addition, Leclerc scrolls through display pages with his right thumb, while Hamilton uses both hands.
There are further differences at the back of the steering wheel as well. Hamilton has opted for a thinner gear selector paddle than his new team-mate, and the his paddles have been positioned higher than on the Monegasque's steering wheel. that is positioned higher than Leclerc's.
The clutch paddle is the same on both steering wheels, with both Leclerc and Hamilton activating it on the right hand side of wheel.
