[Doc777]

Apparently it’s a really bad habit and can lead to early failure of the selector. It does not have much vertical support like a manual gear stick so putting vertical weight on it can damage the track.

Yeah, they are just a switching system (basically a glorified light switch) - not a mechanical set of linkages. Although they look quite robust, as @twist mentioned - they're not.

 

[Doc777]

Yeah, self-protection simply won't allow it to shift into 1st at that speed. With standard tuning, you can't downshift to anything that will result in the engine red-lining.

 

[Doc777]

Remove the steering wheel cover would be my advice. Horrible things. Unsafe at worst, ugly at best.