Why an F1 steering wheel has more buttons than a fighter jet

No form of auto racing demands more from its participants than Formula 1, where the top teams will spend more than $250 million a year to run 19 races. Everything about the cars and the drivers requires a level of engineering and concentration unique in the world, and nothing illustrates the challenges better than the steering wheels — a confusing, carbon-fiber chunk of buttons, levers and LEDs. It's like playing a Mozart piano concerto at 200 mph.

Each steering wheel is custom-made to each teams' specifications, and thanks to the electronics can cost as much as $50,000 apiece. Because Formula 1 has fewer limits on technology than other forms of racing, the driver has the ability to customize far more of the car's controls — from how it delivers the power coming out of a corner to how rich the engine runs. To save every ounce of weight, the steering wheel also doubles as a message center from the pit crew and the race marshals, and in the modern F1 era holds the paddles for controlling the transmission as well.

A few even control when the driver can get a drink through his helmet.