FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

Discuss the sport you love with other motorsport fans

Formula One related discussion.
User avatar
By racechick
#268152
Anyone know what brakes the different drivers are using?

Last weekend lewis switched from Carbone Industrie brakes to Brembo. And this gave him the huge confidence for his late braking enabling him to outperform the car. He'd tried different cooling configurations on the Carbonne Industrie brakes on the Friday but prevented the discs locking in the cool conditions. Car was too twitchy. So he went with Jenso's choice of the Brembo's.
I didnt realise you could swtich from race to race.

Characteristics of the different brakes.

Carbone Industrie
Great wear rates.
Sensitive to being in the correct temperature.
Too cool, not enough initial bite;press harder, instant heat up, but maybe fractionally faster on one side so you get a lock up.
can be twitchy under braking

Brembo
Not as powerful
Higher wear rate
Consistent pedal feel
Relative immunity to cool conditions.

I got most of this from the race report about Germany.
User avatar
By Denthúl
#268155
I didnt realise you could swtich from race to race.


Yeah, it's something they've been able to do for as long as I can remember. Rubens switched to the Brembo brakes in the second part of the 2009 season and look at the difference it made...
User avatar
By darwin dali
#268444
There's a third manufacturer: US-based HITCO who first introduced carbon brakes to F1 in 1980. Lotus and Virgin use HITCO exclusively, other teams use them as well.
User avatar
By racechick
#268471
Yes I recognise that name now you say it.

    See our F1 related articles too!