Jing Joh said:

Kingy said:

Hydraulic systems are simple, logical and reliable.

This seems like a “we’ve always done it this way” kind of statement. Not saying you’re wrong but I feel like a bit of engineering could produce a better system.

Kind-of. It’s been used for so long because those systems are very well sorted and mature. I’m not sure about these days but part of the requirement in Australia was to have a completely manual way of stopping the car With respect to that, hydraulics are best.
That being said I know that Mercedes in the last decade or so have got an additional braking system on top of the manual hydraulic system that when it senses the brake pedal is hit harder & faster than usual it’ll boost the pressure to the brakes.
There was also a rule about steering also being ultimately completely manual, but I think lately that’s been relaxed to allow for steer-by-wire, so no manual steering at all.