F1 Brake pedal pressures. Why so high ?

F1 Brake pedal pressures. Why so high ?

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Ahonen

5,015 posts

278 months

Wednesday 28th September 2016
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red_slr said:
Its all a bit of hype. Its no different to any other race car type set up really. Yes a lot firmer than a road car but its does not require super human strength. Nothing on an F1 car requires that level of fitness other than dealing with the g forces and heat. They are the 2 main issues. The actual controls are pretty easy as far as race cars go.
I understand where you're coming from, but there is quite a lot more initial pedal pressure involved compared to most other racecars. The stopping distances are incredibly short, such is the level of downforce and weight transfer, so brake pressures are very high for the initial stab but as a further side effect of the short distances the drivers are also bleeding off very quickly because the speed is reducing so quickly. So to borrow from your running analogy the braking for an F1 driver is more like a 100m sprinter compared to, say, a historic car with no downforce that is likely to require longer, lighter, yet very carefully regulated, braking distances.

With regard to the pedal pressure it's worth remembering that the guys are strapped in tight, so they have the best possible leverage, plus if we're considering a peak of around 100kg on the pedal per stop it's only like a fairly chunky person standing on one leg and bending it very slightly before straightening up as quickly as possible (several times a minute for around 100 minutes).

Edited by Ahonen on Wednesday 28th September 05:28

tristancliffe

357 posts

212 months

Thursday 29th September 2016
quotequote all
Ahonen said:
I understand where you're coming from, but there is quite a lot more initial pedal pressure involved compared to most other racecars. The stopping distances are incredibly short, such is the level of downforce and weight transfer, so brake pressures are very high for the initial stab but as a further side effect of the short distances the drivers are also bleeding off very quickly because the speed is reducing so quickly. So to borrow from your running analogy the braking for an F1 driver is more like a 100m sprinter compared to, say, a historic car with no downforce that is likely to require longer, lighter, yet very carefully regulated, braking distances.

With regard to the pedal pressure it's worth remembering that the guys are strapped in tight, so they have the best possible leverage, plus if we're considering a peak of around 100kg on the pedal per stop it's only like a fairly chunky person standing on one leg and bending it very slightly before straightening up as quickly as possible (several times a minute for around 100 minutes).

Edited by Ahonen on Wednesday 28th September 05:28
Stopping distances are so short DESPITE the weight transfer.