McLaren's 4-paddle steering wheel
 

I posted earlier in the F1 Rumors and News section about the new system McLaren are using on the steering wheel and thought I would start a new thread to discuss is in detail.

Here's a picture of it courtesy of Formula 1 Complete
http://lord_k.home.comcast.net/4paddles.bmp


Reported by the UK's Telegraph, it allows the driver to select different engine mappings.

According to the FIA's race report from Hockenheim, Lewis Hamilton's engine will be checked before the Hungarian Grand Prix.

I have to go, but I'll be back.

Wow. Very, very interesting..
I can't make it out from the picture, but it makes sense.. Talk about multi-tasking though. I'd crash for sure!

i cant see 4 paddles. i can only see 2 ... unless im looking in the wrong area ????

but who cares HOW many paddles it has ??? there is knobs and switchs all over the thing...

So then that would make it a 6 paddle wheel lol

I thought you can always change engine mapping?

It apears to have 6 paddles. Maybe one is for that rear braking thing tey were tying?

Looks like Lewis hit the wrong paddle and the steering wheel came off, lol.

Right turn Clyde
 

...and the finger pointing up saying "just a second, lemme put this back on. Woopsie!"

Ferrari will surely be attempting a copy of this but after Silverstone they might want to put a Tom-Tom on Felipe's car :laugh:

Kissy, this is a really cool thread man. I'm impressed with your diagram too - thanks!
I was confusing the steering wheel release with the up-shift paddle haha. Now it makes sense! :thumbup:

In all honesty, they are so close together, it's almost as if you could want to change the mapping and hit a rumble strip and blip down a gear on accident. I can see the difference between where you show each of the paddles are, but it seems way too close. With gloves on, won't the paddles feel flush between eachother anyway? Very difficult to tell.

by the looks of it is upside down and the "steering wheel release" is the upshift and the down shift u cant see my two cents dont know bout the rest

???
 

Judging by most of the replies to my thread, most people think this is some speculation on my part but in most of the F1 community this is a forgone conclusion.

My intention was not to debate whether or not there are four paddles there but perhaps how it works and how it will affect this year's championship and the sport as a whole.

This was one of the most original F1 threads i've opened - which wasn't just reporting on past-events, but actually diagnosing team-specific parts and performance that the general public isn't really aware of. Cool!

I wish I knew more about the mechanics of how a driver adjusts torque-bias on corner exit, but I am out of my engineering depth here unfortunately..

Kissy, please elaborate if you can, or any of the other engineering / mechanically talented members on how this may actually work. This is really freaking cool technology. I'd also like to know what other teams are running a similar setup, or variation of. :-)

After seeing the Ferrari boys click off some early impressive victories, team McLaren has been rather dominant of late, with Hamilton collecting three victories in the last five races. Some of the credit for this success may be due to an innovative new steering wheel on McLaren’s MP4-23, which utilizes four paddle levers in place of the standard two. Two of the levers are used to run up and down through the gears as per normal, with the other set able to modulate the engine torque to suit the selected gear into a particular corner. This flexibility allows for reduced wheel spin in slow corners while retaining all out speed for the quick ones.
We’re told that four levers are needed only because the FIA has made a rule that drivers may not select gear and torque setting in one move, but we can hardly imagine the combination of split-second timing and digital dexterity that must be needed to use the system effectively. Further proof that (sadly) Lewis Hamilton is a much, much better driver than we are.

more 4 paddle talk
 

It is believed that Renault have a similar system but haven't refined the technology enough to exploit it or perhaps it isn't that advantageous to begin with.

From my understanding it works like this: engine mapping can increase or decrease torque and so by modifying the engine torque on certain parts of a circuit wheelspin is reduced to increase grip on corner exit. For example, you could exit one corner in 3rd gear at 120 mph and 9500 rpm and exit a different corner in the same gear at the same speed at 8500 rpm. It's possible that these settings could be modified during the race to compensate for the changing handling characteristics based on factors such as fuel load and tire wear so the driver can achieve a more balanced performance by offsetting these changes with different engine torque settings. Setup then becomes key on the days leading up to a race where the driver has to run the car at different fuel loads so as to build a database of engine output on that particular circuit then the engineers can determine where the most advantage can be gained.
I will continue to research this and update my findings so at obtain the most accurate information.

I believe that F1 cars do have a clutch, activated by a paddle.

^it's automatic

seems like they had this system a long time ago but maybe they just now got it sorted out
http://www.f1complete.com/content/view/9536/900/

Yes I think that is the case.

That's what I thought too. Think I've seen it on that autocar.com video when they tested a F1 car on Silverstone, don't remember the name of the journalist. Or maybe when Tiff Needell drove the BMW Sauber F1... Pretty sure one of those paddles is the clutch.

Yes they do and instead of the steering wheel release as my diagram shows I think that is the clutch. Not for shifting gears but to keep the car running in case of an off-track departure.
I'll update my diagram to reflect this. I still think the upper four paddles operate the gears and torque settings though.

http://lord_k.home.comcast.net/4paddles_Update_2.jpg

By the way, it was Chris Harris who tested the F1 car at Silverstone.

i believe they have an anti-stall system that kicks in if they spin or lock the rear wheels in order to keep the engine running while they are on track. the clutch is just for getting the car moving from a standstill as its a sequential seamless shift gearbox. both bottom paddles i believe are clutch and the driver can use either one as far as i know

there are apparently 2 hand clutches, one on each side, on is to completely disengage, once the first is off the car holds against the brakes. The second graduates wheel spin when leaving the start grid.. This is according to this month's EVO mag.