Less braking on the Yas Marina Circuit

12/7/2021

How the changes to the Abu Dhabi track have affected the use of Brembo braking systems plus impartial advice for motorists

For the eighth time running, the Formula 1 world championship has come to an end in the Arab Emirates. However, this year the Yas Marina Circuit has a completely new layout where five corners have been eliminated and, with the same climatic conditions, should reduce lap times by a tenth of a second.

According to Brembo technicians, the Abu Dhabi track is one of the most demanding for brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it is rated 4 on the difficulty index, lower than the 5 recorded in all the previous races: in the past, the brakes were needed on five more corners and this made it difficult for them to cool down.

Ultra-quick Brembo pit stop

Brembo’s job in F1 does not end with delivery of the various components. During the GP weekends, Brembo engineers provide the teams with assistance, usually on the track, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they often work from the Remote Garage, located in Curno. The engineers follow the sessions live and analyze the data.

The useful life of a Brembo Formula 1 caliper does not exceed 10,000 km (6,214 mi), but after every race and test session, the caliper goes back to the factory. Specialized workers disassemble it and replace the parts subject to wear, such as, for example, the rubber parts, with new components. All in just a few days. On average, each team uses 10-15 sets of calipers, 150-200 discs and up to 600 pads.

Remanufactured calipers - what an opportunity 

Brembo recommends checking the brakes on your car every 15,000-20,000 km (9,300-12,400 mi) or sooner if any vibrations or signs of overheating arise or if radial cracks appear on the discs. For street-legal cars, the need to replace the brake calipers and the other hydraulic components of the braking system (lines, brake cylinders, brake master cylinder) does not arise because of friction wear, but because of deterioration or accidental breakage.

With close to sixty years in manufacturing OEM calipers, Brembo offers a complete range of remanufactured calipers: they are the result of a careful cleaning operation and the replacement of all the internal parts subject to wear and deterioration. The calipers are then coated with a protective, anti-corrosion layer and subjected to functional tests.

Have you ever considered the idea of a remanufactured caliper?

Braking is almost halved

Reducing the number of corners from 21 to 16 has also had an effect on the number of braking episodes which have been reduced from 11 to 6. The amount of time the brakes are used on a whole lap is now just over 11 seconds compared with the 18.5 seconds in past races. The percentage of the GP spent braking, on the other hand, has dropped from 20 to 13%.

Three of the braking moments use the braking system for at least 2 seconds but only one for more than 2.1 seconds. On the previous layout, four braking episodes lasted for over 2.2 seconds and three of these lasted just under or over 2.5 seconds. The corners with at least 4G of deceleration have dropped from six to four.

240 km/h (149 mph) less in 110 meters (120 yards)

Of the 10 braking sections at the Abu Dhabi GP, 3 are classified as very demanding on the brakes and 3 are considered of medium difficulty.

Preceded by an almost 1.2 km (0.75 mi) long straight, the most challenging braking section is on turn 6: the single-seaters come onto it at 321 km/h (198.8 mph) and slow down for 2.55 seconds to reach a speed of 79 km/h (49 mph). They do this in 110 meters (120 yards) with a deceleration of 4.8G.




