FORMULA 1 VS MOTOGP: WHO WINS WHEN BRAKING?

4/8/2016

BREMBO FINDS THE ANSWER ANALYSING the F1 and MotoGP braking response on the circuit of AUSTIN

MotoGP or Formula 1: which vehicle is faster? And which has better braking?

The Austin circuit is the testing ground to help answer the question on the minds of every enthusiast.
The Texan track is in fact one of the two (the other being Sepang) to host a competition for the 2 and 4 wheel World Racing Championship on the same circuit (5,513 metres long).

MotoGP will take to the Circuit of the Americas this weekend while Formula 1 will come to Texas on October 23 of this year. Backed by its experience as supplier of the leading teams of the two categories, Brembo is able to provide some extremely interesting information. First however, let us give you the technical specifications of the two prototypes:

	Formula 1	MotoGP
Weight	702 kg driver included	157 kg rider excluded
Engine	Turbo 1600 cc	Aspirated 1000 cc
Rims	13 inches	17 inches
Width Front tires	245 mm	125 mm
Length Rear tires	325 mm	190 mm
Discs	278 mm	340 mm

Excluding the drivers or riders, a Formula 1 vehicle weighs four times a MotoGP bike and boasts a much more powerful engine (also for the presence of electric motors).

The tires are a whole different story: in comparison with a bike, Formula 1 single-seaters have more tires (4 instead of 2) and a more generous tread.

Furthermore, aside from tread width, the difference between F1 and MotoGP that counts is on the ground, meaning the contact surface of the tire with the asphalt which is extremely different due to the different make of car and bike tires.

While in F1 the width of the tire coincides with the footprint on the ground, in MotoGp this is only a fraction of the total tread width.

Let's compare their performance over a lap at the Austin circuit in 2015:

	Formula 1	MotoGP
Best racing time	1'40''666	2'04''251
Highest racing speed	332,3 km/h	344,2 km/h

Comparing the best lap during the 2015 competition, the gap between Formula 1 and MotoGp is somewhere around twenty seconds. Maximum speeds place MotoGP ahead of Formula 1.

The limits of MotoGP are essentially two:

1) The time required to reduce speed when facing a curve

2) Speed while in a curve

Both are attributable to several factors mainly including:

A) the different dynamics of the two vehicles, where MotoGP must take into account the tilt limit of the vehicle.

B) the substantial difference due to the aerodynamic load, non-existent on a MotoGP bike, but heavily influencing the deceleration values of an F1 car.

C) the significant difference of the footprint left by the tires of both vehicles.

To clarify point 1 let's refer to three situations derived from the data taken by Brembo in the past at Austin:

	Formula 1	MotoGP
Braking time at curve 9	0,9 seconds	2,2 seconds
Braking time at curve 11	1,5 seconds	4,6 seconds
Braking time at curve 12	1,4 seconds	5,9 seconds

The braking speeds below, always at Austin, are representative of point 2:

	Formula 1	MotoGP
Curve 1 entrance speed	73 km/h	60 km/h
Curve 19 entrance speed	169 km/h	115 km/h
Curve 20 entrance speed	95 km/h	75 km/h

Obviously, even bike braking distances are longer at Austin:

	Formula 1	MotoGP
Braking distance at curve 1	126 metres	206 metres
Braking distance at curve 12	128 metres	300 metres
Braking distance at curve 19	70 metres	115 metres

Not surprisingly, according to the Brembo engineers that assist the competitions in the field, at Austin riders of MotoGP spend 23 percent of the race braking while F1 drivers only 18 percent.

A difference that determines significantly different lap times.

The explanation is rather simple: the Formula 1 vehicles can immediately discharge the entire braking torque to the ground as they do not have issues with balance while MotoGP riders are forced to dose the force as the risk of flipping over a 2-wheel vehicle is high.

In addition, the single-seaters have a ground footprint of the four treads that is well over four times that of a MotoGP bike: naturally, the greater the footprint, the greater the opportunity to discharge the braking torque to the ground.

This is why the decelerations that the riders and drivers face are in line with the characteristics of the vehicles that they command:

	Formula 1	MotoGP
Average decelration	4g	0,8g
Maximum deceleration (curve 12)	5,7g	1,8g

The only aspect in common between the two categories at Austin is the effort required by the braking systems: Brembo engineers have classified both as medium difficulty