Behold the Puzzling Porsche 919 Le Mans Hybrid Steering Wheel

There’s a reason why most elite racing drivers can’t lead lifestyles like ex-world champions James Hunt and Keke Rosberg. The demands of the job are completely different than in decades past, and the complexity of this Porsche 919 Hybrid steering wheel will show you why.

The menacing-looking Porsche 919 Hybrid will challenge the best endurance race cars in the world at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 17. While its aerodynamic body work looks complicated, it’s nothing compared to its controls. The approximately $50,000 steering wheel is hand-molded to each of the team’s drivers to ensure an excellent fit over a long driving stint. And it’s made made entirely of carbon fiber with titanium and aluminum hardware.

This video-game-looking steering wheel features no less than 20 different buttons, four click-wheels, and two paddle shifters that are actually split into four levers. That’s a total of 28 different buttons and such that the driver can push during a race. Or even worse: push by accident.

Should you turn the left click-wheel (O2) instead of the right click-wheel (16), you’ll only toggle through your center screen instead of activating the windshield wipers. Accidentally push the pit lane speed-limiter button when all you wanted was a drink, and you’ll put an end to Porsche’s multi-million dollar race — even though it’s the same button, just on the left and not the right side.

As you can tell, having a minor brain fart while at the wheel of this beast can literally result in death. Yet, one thing that we haven’t discussed are the conditions in which drivers have to act on all these settings. A race driver must know these buttons by memory and operate them while traveling at over 200 mph under many g-forces, in the rain, surrounded by other race cars, while trying to win a race.

Now you understand why they make the big bucks?

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Photos via: [FIA WEC & R&A]