Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has given a fascinating insight into the complex (to the uninitiated, at least) workings of an F1 steering wheel.In the video, which can be found further down this article, he talks through the manifold jobs achieved through this integral piece of kit, and briefly describes for the layman much of what can be achieved."There’s a lot of buttons and switches that makes it look very complicated, but actually once you get used to it it’s very normal for us."There’s a lot but you don’t use them all the time. There’s certain things that you use every lap, but its normal."So is the steering wheel difficult to use? Raikkonen offers insight in his inimitably glib manner."You give a computer to somebody who has never used it it’s difficult, but after a week or two they learn how to use it."So it’s basically a similar thing, you get used to certain things and it comes very automatically."As technology has advanced, this piece equipment has evolved into perhaps the most vital tool at the hands (literally) of the modern F1 driver.With an array of switches, buttons and paddles that would make even the most experienced console gamer giddy, there is little of an F1 car that cannot be altered at the racing driver’s fingertips.Semi-automatic gear changes, the clutch, DRS (Drag Reduction System), ERS (Energy Reduction System) engine mode and maps, tyre pressure and even fuel mixture can all be controlled by drivers mid-race with the merest flick of a thumb.The design of steering wheels, which has moved away from the traditional round shape found in most road cars to the shorter, squarer machines which are used today, has greatly assisted the F1 driver by allowing space to integrate more and more options at the driver’s touch.Even driver safety relies upon features inherent in the steering wheel’s design.According to the FIA’s technical regulations, a driver must be able to exit a car in no longer than seven seconds and must be able to do so removing nothing from the car other than the steering wheel. Rapid release of the steering wheel from the steering column has therefore become of paramount importance.

It should come of no surprise that, considering all the electrical and mechanical complexity that the development of F1 steering wheels entails, there is significant cost attached to making this kit.

It can take six weeks and up to £50,000 to complete just one steering wheel.

As such, the image of Reuben’s Barrichello nonchalantly tossing his steering wheel onto the track, for it to almost instantly be run over and smashed to pieces, is not for the financially squeamish!