Brembo Formula 1 Brake Facts for Australia

April 7, 2022 by Brembo

BREMBO INNOVATIONS FOR 2022 FORMULA 1 PADS AND STREET-LEGAL PADS, AS WELL AS THE SECRETS OF BRAKING IN MELBOURNE

Brembo engineers offer a guide to braking for this weekend's Formula 1 Heineken Australian Grand Prix to run at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, April 8-10.

After a two-year absence because of the lockdown in the country due to the pandemic, Formula 1 heads back to Australia. For the 25th time, races will be held at the Albert Park circuit, but this had only happened one other time during the month of April back in 2006. According to Brembo engineers, it is one of those tracks with a medium level of difficulty for brakes.

Since it is usually used for daily traffic, on Friday the track is slippery but, session by session, the asphalt is increasingly rubberized, also improving braking performance. This also translates into greater pad and disc wear, as they reach extremely high temperatures due to the increase in grip. ​

Fins even on the pads ​ ​​

​​The vast experience Brembo has accumulated in Formula 1, where they made their début on 1975 with a small supply of cast iron discs for the Ferrari team, has allowed them to prepare a range of solutions for the calipers that contribute to the heat dissipation of the entire braking system.

One of these solutions is the Brembo pads with ventilation holes, something that is anything but simple to achieve because of their small dimensions and the materials the pads are made of, starting with carbon. Thanks to these holes, air circulation is greater and this staves off the overheating of the pads and the calipers themselves. In 2022, the technical regulations ban having these holes in the pads in order to limit the cost of the component, but the teams are already on the hunt for cooling features that will improve this aspect without breaking any rules, such as fins or other processes to at least increase the exchange surface. ​

An endless range of brake pads for street-legal cars​​​​

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On pads for street-legal cars, there is no reason to have fins, both because they do not reach the same temperatures as the Formula 1 cars and due to the high cost. Thanks to the experience it has gained in Formula 1 and its partnership with car manufacturers, Brembo is capable of producing over 100 different compounds for street-legal cars which guarantee maximum safety when braking.

The aim is to offer the best solution for each type of vehicle and driving style, both in terms of performance and comfort and guarantee a low noise level. Brembo makes a total of 1,400 different products, which cover over 98 percent of the cars in circulation in Europe.

Seven braking sections, but not for Lauda​​

On every lap around the Albert Park circuit, the Formula 1 drivers use the brakes seven times, but on three of them, speed reduction doesn't even reach 55 km/h (34 mph). The brakes are used for less than 9 seconds per lap, which is one of the lowest times of the entire championship along with the Miami track, which will make its début one month from now, and that works out to 12 percent of the duration of the entire Grand Prix.

With three braking sections less than 6/10s of a second, there are just as many that last at least 2 seconds. However, the brakes are not used at all on Turn 5, named after Niki Lauda, the first driver to ever win a GP and a World Championship with Brembo brakes in 1975. On three of the six turns, on the other hand, the drivers are subjected to at least 4 Gs of deceleration. ​

Lower speed but greater gap on Turn 3​​​​​​

Of the seven braking sections at the Australian GP, two are classified as highly demanding on the brakes, two are of medium difficulty and the remaining three are light.

The most difficult turn for the braking system is the third one, despite the fact that the speeds are lower on the first and eleventh turn. However, on Turn 3, the single-seaters drop 197 km/h (122 mph), going from 301 km/h (187 mph) to 104 km/h (64.6 mph). This takes them 2.55 seconds, during which they travel 121 meters (397 feet), whereas the drivers are subjected to 4.4 Gs of deceleration. ​​

And what about the video games?​​​

​​Executing the braking section on turn three of Albert Park Circuit in the Formula 1 video game takes a sharp eye and experience. Before the advertisement bridge, it's best to move to the left side of the track and then hit the brakes at 100 meters (328 feet). Braking too late is pointless, because you'll end up on the escape road, with the risk of ending up in the gravel. The braking sections coincides with an abrupt downshift all the way to second gear before diving into the turn.​​