Brembo Brake Facts For Formula 1 Brazil

November 8, 2018 by Brembo

Six braking points per lap at Autodromo Carolos Pace

DETROIT, (November 8, 2018) - Formula 1 lands in Brazil for the 20th race of the 2018 World Championship, taking place November 9-11 at Autódromo José Carlos Pace.

Located in the Cidade Dutra district of São Paulo, the track is named for the Brazilian driver who won the 1975 Brazilian GP. The rest of the world however knows it as Autódromo de Interlagos. Built in 1940, the circuit has been modified throughout the course of the years, most recently in 1990. The cars drive counterclockwise and the straights are fairly short: As a consequence, there is only one occasion when braking is used to drop the speed by more than 200 km/h.

The track is very drivable with frequent changes in direction, but it also has high-speed turns that don't require use of the brakes. This is the case especially on Curva do Sol (Turn 3), Subida dos Boxes (Turn 14) and Arquibancadas (Turn 15).

The only serious obstacle to the correct operation of the carbon brakes is bad weather: in the 2016 the race was held in the rain and the temperature of the tarmac didn't go over 70°F (21°C).

According to Brembo technicians, who have classified the 21 tracks in the World Championship, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace is an average demanding tracks on the brakes.

The demand on the brakes during the GP

Every lap, the brakes are used barely six times, a negative record for the World Championship matched only by the Monza circuit, but there are plenty of tough braking sections. Overall, during one lap at Interlagos, the brakes are used for 12.5 seconds which comes to 19 percent of the duration of the race. Since there are very few braking points, the average peak deceleration per lap is 3,9 G, one of the highest among the last 5 GP races of the year.

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Additionally, none of the six braking sections registers a peak deceleration that goes below 3.2 G. Even the energy dissipated in braking by each single-seater during the entire GP is contained: 187 kWh, which is almost the same as Sochi, although there are four more braking sections per lap.

From the starting line to the checkered flag, each driver exerts a total load of 40 tons on the brake pedal, which is almost identical to the Japanese GP and just under that of the Belgian GP.

The most demanding braking sections

Of the six braking points at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, two are classified as highly demanding on the brakes by Brembo technicians, two are of medium difficulty and the two rest are light.

The most challenging by far is at the first corner because the single-seaters arrive after having accelerated non-stop for 17-18 seconds. They arrive at the braking section going 205 mph (330 km/h) and they brake for 2.82 seconds while traveling 443 feet (135 meters). To reach 65 mph (104 km/h) and set up the curve, the drivers have to apply a 107 kg load on the brake pedal and undergo a deceleration of 4.5 G.

A greater G-force (4.6G) is found at Turn 4, but the braking section is shorter: 1.94 seconds and 321 feet (98 meters) are needed to bring the speed to 112 mph (180 km/h), practically dropping the speed by 99 mph (160km/h).

Turns 8 and 10 also require more than a couple of seconds of braking, although these are the slowest corners on the track with the drivers going 58 mph and 52 mph (94 km/h/84 km/h), respectively. But the Formula 1 cars arrive going less than 155 mph (250 km/h) so each section only requires 278-291 feet (85-89 meters).

Brembo performance

Single-seaters with Brembo brakes have won 23 of the 43 GP races in Brazil that they took part in.

Michael Schumacher has won the most races here with four victories. Ferrari leads the teams with 11 victories. Of the last ten editions, the driver who began in pole position won the Gran Prix.

About Brembo SpA

Brembo SpA is the world leader and acknowledged innovator of disc brake technology for automotive vehicles. Brembo supplies high performance brake systems for the most important manufacturers of cars, commercial vehicles and motorbikes worldwide, as well as clutches and other components for racing. Brembo is also a leader in the racing sector and has won more than 300 championships. Today the company operates in 15 countries on 3 continents, with 23 production and business sites, and a pool of over 10,000 employees, about 10% of whom are engineers and product specialists active in the R&D. 2017 turnover is € 2,463.6 million (12.31.2017). Brembo is the owner of the Brembo, Breco, AP, Bybre, and Marchesini brands and operates through the AP Racing brand.