With the recent ban – albeit a watered down version – on performance related team radio, drivers will have to rely more on the information displayed on their steering wheel.
2014 gave the option of upgrading to a larger screen (above) manufactured by McLaren Electronics which is capable of displaying tons of information.
Not all of the teams took the opportunity to upgrade. McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Toro Rosso, Sauber and Marussia all did and are therefore at an advantage compared to their rivals.
The new full-colour 54mm high and 95mm wide screen can display several pages of information from the very basics: speed, gears etc, to much more detailed information such as fuel usage, engine maps and brake balance. It can also be customised to show the most important information on the default screen.
Red Bull, Williams, Force India, Lotus and Caterham have all stuck with the older (below) and far smaller unit which can only show the most basic of information, much of which is accessed by scrolling to different pages and is therefore distracting for the driver.
