Yes — but not the kind you’ll find in your road car.
Why they need it
- An F1 car’s front tyres are wide, the downforce is enormous, and cornering loads can hit 5–6G.
- Without assistance, the steering effort would be brutal, even for elite athletes.
How it works
- F1 cars use hydraulic power steering systems.
- Unlike road cars, it’s tuned not for comfort, but for precision and feedback.
- Teams can adjust how much assistance a driver gets, balancing between reducing effort and keeping the “feel” needed to sense grip.
No free rides
- Even with power steering, the forces are huge. Drivers regularly fight through 20+ laps of heavy corners (think Monaco or Singapore) with their forearms and shoulders on fire.
- Crucially, there’s no power-assisted steering at the rear — only the front wheels.
The drivertalk take
Yes, F1 cars have power steering, but it’s not there to make life easy. It’s there to make life possible. Without it, drivers wouldn’t last three laps — but with it, they can still feel every ounce of grip through their fingertips. Comfort? Forget it. This is precision engineering for gladiators.
