NEW Thrustmaster F1 Wheel: What to Expect

Ever since December of 2020, Thrustmaster has slowly been teasing its soon-to-be released Formula 1 style wheel rim. They've been keen at keeping quiet and revealing only bits of information, but here's what we know so far, and what we could expect from the new Thrustmaster formula style wheel rim.

Let's start with some of the most obvious, and arguably most exciting features of this wheel and as we progress through, we’ll get more into the unknowns and my predictions. Here is what we know for a fact, the wheel rim will feature an LCD screen, separate paddles for the clutch, and shifting, a faceplate that looks like carbon fiber, 15 individual LED lights on top of the screen, and at least a few dials and a bunch of other buttons of different colors and sizes. In terms of its compatibility, it will work with the T300RS, TX, TS-XW, TS-PC, and T-GT Thrustmaster wheelbases. Finally, it will release on April 20th of this year.

Now, moving more into the unknown, the wheel rim appears to be based on the Ferrari SF1000 Formula 1 car based on its general silhouette and placement of buttons, switches, and dials. On the right, we have the official Ferrari SF1000 wheel rim and on the left, we have a screenshot from Thrustmasters teaser. As you can see, the Pit limit button is present on the top right of both, features a near-identical font, is bright red with a black P, and appear to be very similar in size. The LED lights seem to be identical as well with 15 individual LED’s on the top, and three on the sides of the LCD screen, of both rims. There are also some very clear similarities such as the two similarly colored buttons to the left of the Pit limiter as well as a dial placed in the same location.

On the left side of the wheel, we have a bright green neutral button, what appears to be a white drink button, and a red button in the exact same position as the SF1000 wheel. Finally, based on their most recent as of 2/28/21, on the bottom right of the wheel rim, we see what appears to be at least two 360 degree dials, at the same position, and of a similar color of the SF1000 wheel. There is currently no information hinting towards the fact that Ferrari has anything to do with this, and based on the teasers we haven't seen the prancing horse anywhere, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it did. Thrustmaster's prior history with the Scuderia has brought us a bunch of Ferrari Thrustmaster gear such as the 458 wheels, the 599XX wheel rim, and the old F1 wheel add-on to name a few. So in my opinion, based on this and the similarities I identified just a little bit ago, I’m very confident that this is another collaboration with Ferrari.

In terms of the materials used in the wheel, the carbon fiber weave has everyone hyped up. Has Thrustmaster finally made the jump to real carbon fiber and is aiming to compete against Fanatec's higher offerings? Maybe, but there are also some reasons I think not. For starters, it wouldn’t be the first time Thrustmaster used fake carbon fiber on their wheels. On the Thrustmaster R383 Rally wheel, a plastic carbon fiber weave can be seen accenting the wheels button box, which means they have experimented with this in the past. The second reason I think they might opt-out of using real carbon fiber is the cost. We all know Carbon fiber is expensive, and for a company that produces mass-market wheels such as Thrustmaster, they might not be willing to significantly increase production cost and retail price, only to appeal to a very niche group of people. However, based on their short teasers, the glare and overall look of the carbon sheet looks very promising, so there is a chance that this will indeed be real carbon fiber. Based off some more teasers that have been released, it seems the handle is wrapped in some type of rubber, which is common in F1 style wheels. Finally, since this is an add-on, Thrustmaster will likely use its typical plastic quick-release mechanism on this wheel rim.

Now, for the holy grail of questions: how much will it cost? It's uncertain but I am expecting this to be around $300. Again, this is nothing more than a prediction, but based on Thrustmaster's pricing of other wheel rims, the amount of features this wheel rim could potentially have, and its potential use of carbon fiber, I think $300 is in the ballpark.

So, that wraps up everything I've gathered from Thrustmaster’s teasers thus far, It will be interesting to see how it competes against Fanatec’s formula-style offerings. But what do you think? Am I missing something? Am I completely off? And are you excited for this new F1 style wheel rim from Thrustmaster?