Mark Hughes, who does a terrific job for the Telegraph, has broken a story that just might be the answer to my question in the forum…What has McLaren done in the last three weeks to give them such a dominant form that saw them 1.5 seconds a lap quicker than Ferrari?I noted that Lewis’s acceleration seemed flawless with little to no wheel spin and his start in the wet in Britain was like he had Traction Control. It seems Mr. Hughes might have the answer I was looking for over at this story here:
McLaren’s four-paddle steering wheel for traction:
McLaren’s steering wheel features four paddle levers rather than the usual two. The upper two are conventional gear-change paddles, one for upshifting, one for down. The lower two allow different engine torque settings to be chosen. Using two fingers at the same time allows the car always to have the most favourable engine torque setting for each gear, thus giving the driver a tool for limiting wheelspin out of slow corners without then suffering a reduction in power in the higher gears, where wheelspin is not an issue. The rules stipulate that any change in torque settings cannot be triggered by the same driver input as a gear change. Having two separate levers gets around that rule, while still allowing the change of gear and torque setting to take place simultaneously. This is part of McLaren’s current performance superiority over Ferrari.
