Braking Worries

[D-bass]

Some F1 figures have voiced concerns that brakes cannot cope with rising speeds.
The grip of the tyres and the downforce means the loads on the brakes are enormous. Limited to just a 28mm disc and 13-inch rim is making it all quite marginal and starting to become a safety concern."

[Revracing]

I do not necesarily aggree with that argument, Indy Kart etc... are limited to steel braking technology (last time I looked) and they stop, not in the same distance but they still stop. The same should apply to F1, the braking distances will just increase, or are you saying that F1 braking systems have reached the limit of heat disipation, that could be a problem....

Please expand...

[Kicking-back]

It comes from Adrian Newey - he reckons the current dimensions of brakes you can run could lead to failures because of the rising speeds in F1.

Steel brakes were one of his suggestions to get round the problem, yes.

[N I Tram]

Fisichella and Newey have both commented on this in the past 48 hours. Frankly I think they simply need to brake earlier, rather than carrying extra speed intot he corners. Canada is tough on brakes, but they usually make them last.

Going back to steel rbakes owuld be great for the racing - long braking distances give much mroe chance of drivers making msitakes and allowing overtaking chances.

[Rennen]

You cant really compare steel to Carbon brakes...nor F1 loadings and wear rates to Champ cars.

The Canadian track offers the maximum test for F1 cars, they all choose their most durable material for this one to last the distance. The problem is if they dont last the distance they can explode!

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by Rennen
You cant really compare steel to Carbon brakes...nor F1 loadings and wear rates to Champ cars.

The Canadian track offers the maximum test for F1 cars, they all choose their most durable material for this one to last the distance. The problem is if they dont last the distance they can explode!

HHF. Williams. Australia. 1998?

[Kicking-back]

HHF also had a brake explode in Canada causing him to crash the Jordan in 1999.

[Jordi]

Australia 1997 to be precise. If I remember correctly Williams that year ran in Montreal 34 mm brakes which are not allowed now. The one that exploded for Heinz was 28, I think.

[D-bass]

Raikkonen has said "We're going three or four seconds quicker than last year so it's going to be harder for brakes and for all the other parts too.

The lap times are very quick; there have been big improvements on tyre development but none on Braking.

[Gt_R]

It's not surprising that when different groups specialise and build different things, one will grow faster than another..

And the growth of aero-gains, tyre-grip-gains,etc has been far more significant than the improvements to brakes, and hence, it result in such a situation arising.

Hence, it's up to teams to work within the limits of it's various components and not unduly/irresponsible risk the safety of their cars/drivers.

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. The teams ought to be professional enough not to make silly gambles in such a moment's persuit of the extra milli-sec.

[avsfan733]

if the braking becomes an issue simply brake earlier its not the rule makers job to make the brakes work...i think someone had a brake disc explode during practice for bahrain...they can go thicker they can go to bigger ducts the teams have options they just don't want to implement them because they cost drag and weight penalties, its a simple compromise if the brakes explode end of race