Mercedes changes Hamilton steering wheel after Baku incident

La Formula 1 is a world at the cutting edge of technology. But sometimes, “old-fashioned” remedies can solve extremely serious problems.

Take the incident that struck Lewis Hamilton during the restart of the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion had inadvertently touched a button resulting in a greater distribution of the brakes on the front of the Mercedes.

Wheels blocked when braking in the first corner, the Englishman shot straight and lost any chance of scoring points in Baku. Two weeks after this extremely rare blunder, the person concerned will drive at Paul-Ricard (Var) with a slightly modified steering wheel.

“We have not moved (the position of) button, we simply put a ''cache'' around it so as not to accidentally activate it in the future. But this is a temporary solution,” he said at a press conference before the French Grand Prix.

This crude modification should be replaced soon. “Obviously, the steering wheel is not easy to transform, and you don't move the buttons just anywhere. The whole thing is part of a thoughtful design, a long-term solution will then be on the table. »