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After Red Bull's victory in Mexico City, F1i invites you into Max Verstappen's office while explaining the amenities a Formula 1 requires to race at a high-altitude venue such as the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
BUTTONS GALORE
Over time, an F1 driver's steering wheel has become a veritable real dashboard. The one on the Red Bull of Verstappen and Ricciardo includes, on its front face, a multitude of buttons and knobs, which we decipher below.
1 – DIFF: adjusts the differential
2 – N (“Neutral”): puts the gearbox in neutral
3 – –10 / +1: ups or lowers, from 1 to 10, the value of one of the parameters actioned by turning knob number 8
4 – RADIO: Verstappen and Ricciardo push this button to talk to their engineer
5 – BBAL (“Brake Balance”): changes the brake balance, also adjustable by the buttons BB– and BB+ (7)
6 – DRINK: activates the pump, which allows the drive to drink
8 – TYRE: adjusts the car’s settings to the current state of the tyres (following steps indicating the “tyre phase”)
9 – CHARGE: defines the amount of energy recuperated or released by the ERS: the driver turns the wheel to the left (“fill”) or the right (“drain”) according to the strategy
10 – FUEL: changes the air/fuel mixture
11 – DISP (for “Display”) : allows the various parameters to be shown on the display: “FORM”, “FUEL”, “TYRES”, “BRAKES”, “TYRES”, “SAFE”, “IN LAP”
12 – MODE: changes the mapping of the engine
13 – REV: probably used to release a temporary boost
14 – MID: adjusts the differential mid-corner
15 – FAIL: puts all the systems in a safety mode (“fail safe”)
16 – PIT: pitlane speed limiter
17 – PC (“Pit Confirm”): confirms the message from the pits is well received without having to talk
18 – TORQ: adjusts the torque
