Lewis Hamilton has always been one to do things differently. He’s forged his own path to the top of Formula 1, often by going his own way, even if that means doing something in the car that’s unique to the rest of the grid.
On his journey to the top, the seven-time world champion has had a profound impact on the sport around him, playing key roles in redesigning the race suit of a driver or aspects as fundamental as the steering wheel. The modern steering wheel design was first adopted by the Brit when he was at McLaren, and he took it with him to Mercedes. Soon, it was being used by more and more teams throughout the paddock, and it’s now recognisable to F1 fans as the leading choice up and down the grid.
Lewis Hamilton’s Hand Placement on Steering Wheel
The Brit will always have just one hand on the wheel, placing it top left
The soon-to-be Ferrari driver’s ingenuity and unique creative impact doesn’t stop there, however, as many F1 fans have noticed he has a slight but consistent difference during the start procedure of a race. Instead of holding the wheel in the intended spot on the side as he would normally while driving the car, he puts his left hand over the top of the wheel and rests his palm on the flat, smooth carbon fibre surface, with his fingers then hidden from view.
Many could be forgiven for thinking this is a pre-race ritual, or just how the Mercedes driver feels comfortable, but there’s actually a competitive advantage to this technique as has been explained by a Mercedes mechanic. His hidden fingers actually fit behind the paddle shifter at the back of the steering wheel, which drivers use to change gears in modern F1 cars. This blocks the paddle from being accidentally pressed down as Hamilton is changing up in the gears, as the left paddle shifter is responsible for downshifts.
The impact of this is that the British driver cannot accidentally change down a gear during acceleration, which would cause the car to bog down and more than likely lose several places at the race start. While it’s not very common for this to happen, the potential repercussions are significant.
When Zhou Guanyu’s car encountered clutch problems at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, he fell from a great starting position of fifth down to 14th by turn 1, eventually finishing 16th in a start procedure that ruined his afternoon. As someone used to fighting for wins and world championships, Hamilton must minimise the risk of such an act, and the 105-time race winner clearly feels more comfortable with this particular downshift risk averted.
When Lewis Hamilton Started Using This Technique
It is not known specifically when Lewis Hamilton started this technique. It was spotted in 2021 during his title fight with Max Verstappen at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, but some believe he may have been doing it a lot longer.
The change could have been inspired by the 2016 F1 season, where he lost the title in Abu Dhabi to childhood best friend and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who then retired. In that season, Hamilton suffered several bad starts, often having to storm back past slower cars during the race, and limiting his results compared to his teammate in the process.
It’s possible the star driver adopted this technique in response to the issues he faced during this season, or perhaps he only protected himself from this when new challenger Verstappen emerged in 2021.
Either way, look out for the distinctive start procedure at today’s Dutch Grand Prix, where Hamilton will need a good start after only qualifying P12, and additionally being hit with a three-place grid penalty for impeding the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
