During the Bahrain GP, Logan Sargeant experienced a glitch on the steering wheel of his Williams F1 car. Williams acknowledges that this is not the first time issues have arisen with the new F1 steering wheel.
As the final F1 team on the grid, Williams made the switch to a new F1 steering wheel this season with an integrated display. In previous seasons, Williams had a fixed display that did not rotate with the steering wheel. The transition may seem straightforward, but there have been clear issues.
On lap 10 of the race, Logan Sargeant was in thirteenth place, a significant improvement from his eighteenth place starting position. Sargeant was in pursuit of Kevin Magnussen when he suddenly went straight at the fourth corner. Onboard footage revealed that the brake balance abruptly shifted to 94% on the front brakes, a setting that F1 drivers would never typically use when approaching a corner. While F1 drivers can adjust their braking balance during a lap, it is always within certain limits.
Throughout the race, there were moments captured on onboard cameras where the screen on Williams’ steering wheel went black momentarily or displayed some squares. It is evident that there are underlying issues with Williams’ new steering wheel, issues that the team believed had been resolved.
After the race, Sargeant commented, “We experienced some electronic problems during qualifying and the race, and we now need to understand what caused them. We thought we had fixed it, but it resurfaced. It didn’t happen again after we changed the steering wheel, so perhaps that was the root of the problem.”
“We need to identify the cause and ensure it does not happen again. The steering wheel was behaving unpredictably, without my input. I don’t fully comprehend it, but my race was clearly compromised,” Sargeant added.
Williams team principal James Vowles also acknowledged the issues with the new F1 steering wheel, referring to them as a “serious safety concern.”
“Drivers frequently adjust their braking balance, either increasing or decreasing braking force to the front or rear,” Vowles explained in a team video. “There is a dial for making these adjustments, and in this particular instance, the brake balance shifted sharply forward, causing the front of the car to lock up completely.”
“The car was otherwise fine, but such an incident should not occur. We need to understand what transpired immediately. Errors like this are extremely critical in terms of both racing performance and safety,” Vowles emphasized.