The Australian GP according to Brembo

3/18/2016

 An in-depth look at the demand on the Formula 1 brakes at the Melbourne circuit

From 18 to 20 March, the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship opens at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne (Australia).
The Australian circuit is a city track that winds its way on the streets of Albert Park. It’s a fast track and quite demanding on the brakes. A good part of the 9 braking sections on the circuit have a medium-high level of difficulty on the braking systems and are characterized by variable stopping distance decelerations.


 

Because it is a non-permanent track, during the race weekend it is gradually rubberized (in 2015, from the first session on Friday to Q3, the lap times fell by 3 seconds), which causes an increase in both deceleration and brake stress in terms of temperature and wear.


According to Brembo technicians, Albert Park falls into the category of mid-level difficulty for the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 10, it earned a 7, which is identical to other curvy race tracks like Monte Carlo, Budapest, Sepang, Spielberg and Baku.   

 

​Brake use during the GP

                 
The amount of time spent braking on this track, which is equivalent to 18% of the overall duration of the race, is average for the championship. By contrast, the average deceleration rate is quite high: 4g amongst the highest of the braking sections on the circuit.


 

Albert Park is one of the World Championship tracks where the single-seaters dissipate the greatest quantity of energy in braking: on average a vehicle reaches 238 kWh, which is more than the energy dissipated by a single-seater on the Suzuka and Silverstone tracks put together. On the other hand, throughout the entire Grand Prix, each driver has to break no less than 500 times, applying a total pedal load that surpasses 64 tonnes. 
 

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The most demanding braking sections 

                    
Of the 9 braking sections at Albert Park, 6 are classified as demanding on the brakes, two present a medium level of difficulty and only one is considered light on the braking systems. There are five highly demanding braking sections, those with a deceleration measuring more than 4.4 g, and all are approached by cars going 300 km/h or only slightly less.


 

The most feared is the Brabham at turn one because the drivers arrive at a speed of more than 320 km/h and they have to decelerate by 5.3 g: the brake power required is 2,700 Kw, one of the highest values for brake power in the whole World Championship. There are two braking sections that register a medium level of difficulty on the brakes (Marina and Prost) and only one that is slightly challenging, turn 4, where just a light touch of the brake pedal slows the car down 20 km/h. 
 

 
 
 

Brembo Wins

                     
In Australia, Brembo has won 15 of the 31 races it has competed in as of today, with a score 48%. The driver who has won the most with Brembo brakes at Melbourne is Schumacher with 4 victories, followed by Berger and Senna with 2 wins each.


None of the active drivers have won the Australian GP twice with Brembo brakes.