O condutor segura o volante com firmeza.

Because Portuguese normally uses articles much more often than English.

Here, o condutor means the driver:

• o = masculine singular definite article
• condutor = driver

In English, you sometimes leave out the article in headings or labels, but in Portuguese it is usually more natural to include it in a full sentence.

You could also say um condutor if you mean a driver rather than the driver.

Condutor means driver.

In European Portuguese, condutor is very common in:

• driving contexts
• traffic rules
• formal language
• learner-driver materials

Motorista also means driver, but it is often used more for:

• a professional driver
• a taxi driver, bus driver, chauffeur, etc.

So in a general sentence about someone driving a car, condutor is perfectly natural in Portugal.

Here, segura is the verb segurar in the 3rd person singular, present indicative.

So:

• eu seguro = I hold
• tu seguras = you hold
• ele/ela segura = he/she holds

In this sentence, o condutor segura = the driver holds.

Yes, and that can confuse learners.

Segura can be:

1. a verb form of segurar = holds
2. the feminine form of the adjective seguro = safe / secure

But in this sentence it is clearly the verb, because it is followed by the direct object o volante.

So:

• A porta está segura. = The door is secure.
• O condutor segura o volante. = The driver holds the steering wheel.

Because volante is a masculine singular noun, so it takes o.

• o volante = the steering wheel

As with o condutor, Portuguese normally uses the article here where English also uses the.

Com firmeza literally means with firmness, but in natural English it is usually translated as firmly.

Portuguese often uses:

• com + noun

where English might prefer an adverb.

So:

• com firmeza = firmly / with a firm grip / steadily

You could also say firmemente, and it would be grammatically correct:

• O condutor segura o volante firmemente.

But com firmeza is very natural and common. It often sounds a bit more idiomatic and concrete, as if emphasizing control and steadiness.

The given order is the most neutral one:

O condutor segura o volante com firmeza.

That is:

• subject
• verb
• object
• manner phrase

Portuguese word order is fairly flexible, so other versions are possible, for example:

• O condutor segura com firmeza o volante.
• Com firmeza, o condutor segura o volante.

These are possible, but the original sentence is the most straightforward and natural as a basic statement.

Yes. Portuguese often drops the subject when it is clear from context.

So you could say:

• Segura o volante com firmeza.

That could mean:

• He holds the steering wheel firmly
• She holds the steering wheel firmly
• or even you hold in some contexts, depending on the verb form and surrounding information

But with segura, there can be some ambiguity, so keeping o condutor makes the sentence clearer.

It can mean either, depending on context.

O condutor segura o volante com firmeza can describe:

• something happening now, for example in a picture
• a habitual or general action, for example in a driving description

This is normal in Portuguese, just as in English:

• The driver holds the steering wheel firmly can sound like a general description
• in the right context, it can also describe what is happening

Because after com, Portuguese often uses a noun phrase.

Here:

• firme = firm
• firmeza = firmness

So:

• com firmeza = with firmness = firmly

This is a very common pattern in Portuguese:

• com cuidado = carefully
• com calma = calmly
• com atenção = attentively

So com firmeza fits a very common and natural structure.

A rough European Portuguese pronunciation is:

O condutor segura o volante com firmeza.
roughly: u con-du-TOR sɨ-GU-ra u vu-LAN-t(ɨ) con fir-ME-zɐ

A few helpful points:

• o often sounds close to u in European Portuguese
• unstressed vowels are often reduced
• r in the middle of a word is usually a tapped r
• the final a in firmeza is usually a reduced sound, not a strong English ah

The most important words to notice are:

• condutor
• segura
• volante
• firmeza

If you want to sound more European Portuguese, focus especially on vowel reduction in unstressed syllables.