British GP, not much braking but high temperatures all the same

6/28/2022

Beware of the temperature of the Brembo brakes at Silverstone and on street-legal cars

The first event in the summer season is the British Grand Prix although this year the sprint qualifying race will not be taking place on Saturday. According to Brembo technicians, the Silverstone Circuit falls into the category of tracks that make little demand on the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it is rated 2 on the difficulty index - lower than all the other tracks in the current schedule.

This does not mean that the brakes are not important on this track even if in the qualifying round in 2020 speeds reached an average of over 250 km/h (190 mph). Grip is critical and depends on both the weather conditions and the number of consecutive laps run by the single-seaters. As the grip increases, so does the braking power transferred to the ground.

No to thermal shocks for road cars too 

Although they don't reach the 1,200°C of Formula 1 cars, road car braking systems can also overheat. To avoid this, Brembo has researched the shape of the ventilation chamber for over a quarter of a century. Thanks to this, pillar ventilation has replaced the traditional fins.

The cross shape of the ventilation pillars, using PVT PLUS ventilation, combined with different geometries for each specific disc, guarantees the best fluid-dynamic performance: resistance to thermal cracking is improved by 40 per cent thanks to a larger heat exchange surface and a longer disc life.

Find tailor-made brakes for your car at www.bremboparts.com

Six braking episodes that last less than 2 seconds 

The biggest risk in the British GP is glazing of the friction material caused by problems bringing the carbon fiber discs and pads to the minimum operating temperature. However, the Brembo material has been specially designed to prevent this problem. There are 9 turns where the brakes are used for a total of 13.5 seconds per lap which amounts to 15% of the whole race.

Of these 9 braking episodes, speed drops to below 75 km/h (47 mph) on over half of them and the relative braking distances are therefore also short. 3 braking episodes, on the other hand, have a deceleration of 4G and last for over 2 seconds. From the starting line to the checkered flag, each driver exerts a total load of 44 metric tons on the brake pedal, one of the lowest in the season.

A 50% drop in speed on turn 6 

Of the 9 braking sections at the British GP, 3 are classified as very demanding on the brakes, 2 are of medium difficulty and the other 4 are light.

The hardest one is on turn 6 because drivers come onto it with the throttle full on after turn 5 (Aintree) and reach a speed of 324 km/h (201 mph). They use the brakes to reduce speed by 50% in 2.4 seconds and cover a distance of 142 meters (155 yards). To do this, drivers apply a load of 127 kg (279 lb) on the brake pedal and undergo a deceleration of 4.2 g.

And what about the video games?

To tackle the Brooklands corner (turn 6) in the British GP of the Formula 1 video game, start braking just before you get to the 50 meter sign once you have moved the right-hand wheels onto the black and white outer curb. Shift into 4th gear and in the meantime move towards the inside and delicately up onto the inner curb. Make sure you don’t open up the throttle too much because turn 7 comes immediately afterwards.