The layout that Schumacher adored returns to the Spanish GP

5/31/2023

In just seven days, Formula 1 passes from one monarchy to another as it moves from the Principality of Monaco to Spain. According to the Brembo technicians, the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is classified as a circuit that is not very demanding on brakes.

In just seven days, Formula 1 passes from one monarchy to another as it moves from the Principality of Monaco to Spain. According to the Brembo technicians, the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is classified as a circuit that is not very demanding on brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it is rated 2 on the difficulty index, the lowest so far this year due to the 1,047 meter (0.6 mi) long straight which facilitates heat dissipation.

This year the F1 teams have not done their winter testing at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, but two weeks ago the circuit hosted the 6 Hours of Barcelona, a race held for GT, Touring and Prototype cars manufactured from 1947 to 1990. The layer of rubber left on the tarmac by these vehicles during the races will have increased the already high level of grip on the track.

A return to the Schumacher era 

The layout of the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit this year returns to the one used from 1995 to 2003 thanks to the installation of new Tecpro barriers on the last two turns. This has given back to enthusiasts one of the best loved sections of the Spanish track since the era of Michael Schumacher who won 5 times with this layout, the first with Benetton and the others with Ferrari.

On those 5 occasions, he used Brembo brakes, his faithful allies in all the 91 GPs won from 1992 to 2006. Michael asked the technicians for a brake pedal with a very short, responsive stroke. At that time, research into disc ventilation was only at its dawn: the Brembo discs had 100 holes compared with over 1,000 this year

First half with at least 4G

The drivers use their brakes on 7 of the 16 turns on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya so the braking system is called into action for a total of 9.5 seconds per lap (12% of the overall race time). This is the lowest percentage so far this season along with the Australian GP.

Turns 4 and 5 are the only two consecutive turns that the brakes are used on: in both cases, deceleration exceeds 4G and the stopping distances 70 meters. Strangely enough, all the braking episodes on the first half of the track require at least 4G, a value that is not reached by any of the braking episodes on the second half of the track. From the starting line to the checkered flag, each driver exerts a total load of almost 53.5 metric tons on the brake pedal.

2.2 seconds of braking on turn 10 

Of the 7 braking sections in the Spanish GP, 4 are classified as very demanding on the brakes, 2 are of medium difficulty, and the remaining one is light.

The most difficult is on turn 10 where the drivers come in at 298 km/h (185 mph) and apply the brakes for 2.19 seconds during which the vehicles travel the 112 meters (302 feet) needed to bring the speed down to 117 km/h (73 mph).

The load on the brake pedal is 116 kg (256 lb) with 3.9G of deceleration.

And what about the video games? 

To gain previous tenths of a second and maybe a position or two when braking on the tenth turn of the Spanish GP in the Formula 1 video game, timing is essential.

Start braking near the 100m sign before going under the advertising bridge.

To assist with the dynamics when coming onto the turn, use the inner curb whereas to optimize traction, we recommend third gear.