Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes team have created an innovative steering wheel which they hope will provide them with an edge for the new Formula One campaign.
During the second day of winter testing in Barcelona, on-board footage captured Hamilton pulling his Mercedes steering wheel towards him as he entered the main straight at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The never-seen-before device narrowed the alignment of the front wheels of Hamilton's Mercedes increasing straight-line speed.
Hamilton then pushed the wheel forward before cornering to improve the car's set-up. Mercedes have called the innovation, DAS, dual-axis steering.
Mercedes' My-steer-ious wheel 🧐@SportmphMark explains the importance behind the Silver Arrows' latest innovation 👀⬇️#F1 #F1Testing — Formula 1 (@F1) February 20, 2020
The Silver Arrows, who have won the past six drivers' and constructors' championships have been in regular dialogue with F1's regulator, the FIA, about the invention and are confident it is legal.
"We have a system in the car, and it's a novel idea," said James Allison, the Mercedes technical director.
"It introduces an extra dimension to the steering for the driver that we hope will be useful throughout the year. But precisely how we use it, is something we'd prefer to keep to ourselves.
"We'll find out over the coming days how much benefit it brings us."
Hamilton, who completed 106 laps with the device here on Thursday, added: "For me, it's really encouraging to see that my team is continuing to innovate and stay ahead of the game.
"That's down to the great minds we have working with this team, and they all work to our benefit."
