F1 | Let’s find out why the riders have to “learn” to brake

We have not yet seen the Formula 1 drivers engaged in a dry lap with the cars in qualifying setting, with the softer rubber compound and an empty fuel tank. In the Barcelona tests, the teams worked on collecting data and understanding the functioning of the cars, having to deal with the hopping phenomenon that influenced the search for maximum speed on the straight.

The issue of braking, therefore, at least for the moment seems to have remained in the background in the priorities of the technicians and that of braking will be a topic that, however, will certainly emerge in the three days of testing in Sakhir that will precede the Bahrain GP.

The topic is very interesting, because a very authoritative source from the Circus even spoke of drivers “… who will have to adapt their driving style to the different way of braking”.

Comparison of aerodynamic loads 2021 – 2022

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Ground-effect single-seaters generate the load for 50% with the long Venturi channels, and only with 25% of the front and rear wings. There are single-seaters that have already reached 60% of the downforce produced under the bellies and this aspect can have a very direct impact on braking.

Why? The answer is simple and we observed it precisely in the Barcelona tests: the drivers had to deal with porpoising, the hopping of the car is a legacy of the ’80s that recurs now, after the F1 cars have been removed. 50 mm staircase bottom and the machines touch the asphalt again, looking for the minimum height from the ground to generate the maximum aerodynamic load in the Venturi channels.

As a result of the hopping, sudden losses of aerodynamic load are generated which can make the F1s unstable in the delicate moment of braking: with the adoption of 18-inch wheels instead of the traditional 13-inch wheels and with the introduction of lowered Pirelli tires, the The braking system has been enhanced with the use of larger carbon discs: the diameter, in fact, went from 278 mm in 2021 to 325-328 mm in 2022.

2022: increased size of the brake disc

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Brembo has introduced a new material that adapts perfectly to the limitation of the ventilation holes of 3 mm in diameter and with a number between 1,000 and 1,100 holes, while last year it had reached a maximum of 1,480.

The properties of the material developed by the Bergamo-based multinational are such that the bite of the first “paw” on the brake pedal has changed: if until last year the “response” of the brakes was represented by a graph that drew a hyperbolic curve with the peak in the highest point, today we see a straight diagonal line that expresses an incredible increase in grip.

The drivers, therefore, find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of having to deal with an F1 that reaches the braking point with sudden loss of aerodynamic load, despite having much more ready braking than in the past.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, after a long braking

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The result is easily predictable: the drivers, even the most famous ones, will be forced to review the approach to braking if they do not want to deal with sudden and unexpected blockages or with longs in the escape routes.

For the driver it will be important to find a different feeling with the brake pedal to exploit the right balance with a leg strength of up to 160 kg to exploit the maximum grip of the disc and pad, in an attempt to control the endemic hopping of the effect single-seaters. soil.

In Barcelona, ​​where absolute performance was not sought, but rather the reliability of the systems, the problem did not emerge in its fullness, but in Sakhir, where sand will also be added to make the braking distance more slippery, let’s get ready to see great show at the bottom of the reptiles …