The Hungarian GP holds the record for brake load in F1

7/26/2022

Brembo finned brake pads for GPs and street-legal cars and the secrets of braking at the Hungaroring

The last appointment before the summer break is the Hungarian GP which will be held at the Hungaroring for the 37th year running. According to Brembo engineers, it is a track with a medium level of difficulty for brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it is rated 3 on the difficulty index.

The windiness of the track makes it seem like a big go-kart circuit; this affects the average lap speed which is below 205 km/h (127 mph) throughout the race but can increase to 214 km/h (132 mph) during the qualifying rounds. The lack of straight sections, with the exception of the main one which is in any case just over 900 meters (984 yards) long, stops the brakes from cooling down but at the same time, it has very few hard braking points.

Fins even on the pads

The extensive experience Brembo has acquired in Formula 1, where it made its début on 1975 with a small supply of cast iron discs for the Ferrari team, has allowed it 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 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, i.e.carbon fiber. Thanks to these holes, air circulation is improved and this staves off the overheating of the pads and the calipers themselves. In 2022, the technical regulations ban these holes in the pads in order to limit the cost of the component, but the teams are already in search of 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 

On pads for street-legal cars, there is no reason to have fins, both because they do not reach the same temperatures as the F1 cars and due to the high cost. Thanks to the experience it has acquired 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% of the cars in circulation in Europe.

Find the right pads for your car in the Brembo catalog.

Hungaroring beats Monaco 

On each lap at the Hungaroring, the Formula 1 drivers use their brakes 11 times for a total of 14.3 seconds per lap which amounts to 19% of the duration of the Grand Prix. This is a high figure but at the Monaco GP, even if there are 9 braking episodes per lap, it reaches 21% because the Monaco track is one kilometer shorter than the Hungarian one.

The 11 braking episodes all have very different values but it is only on the first 2 corners that the braking distance is over 100 meters and lasts longer than 2 seconds. High loads on the brake pedal and G force are experienced also on corners 6 and 12 and from the start to the checkered flag, every driver exerts an overall load of 78.5 metric tons on the brake pedal, 5 tons more than the Monaco GP.

4.6 G on the first corner 

Of the 11 braking sections at the Hungarian GP, 4 are classified as highly demanding on the brakes, 2 are of medium difficulty and the remaining 5 are light.

The hardest on the brake system is the first turn: to go from 321 km/h (198.8 mph) to 95 km/h (59 mph), the drivers have to brake for 2.43 seconds with a load of 142 kg (313 lb) on the brake pedal during which they are subjected to 4.6 G deceleration. In that length of time, the single-seaters cover a distance of 118 meters (387 feet). The braking distance on corner 2 is slightly shorter, 107 meters (351 feet) whereas 143 kg (315 lb) of load on the brake pedal and 4.6 G of deceleration on corner 12 are record values with high values (2,265 kW) for the braking force too.

And what about the video games?

The fact that there is only one long straight section may deceive those who try to tackle the first corner of the Hungaroring in the Formula 1 video game in the best possible way. To avoid mistakes, go onto the left-hand side of the tarmac and press the brake hard once you have gone past the 100 m sign. You have to shift down to 2nd gear but start to steer when you are still in 4th gear until the wheels are on the inner curb. Make sure you do not accelerate too early because you risk coming off the track.