The topic is interesting, because it outlines the very different approach that teams take in looking for the performance of the single-seaters. Brembo Racing supplies the calipers and brake pads to all ten Formula 1 teams (nine are equipped by the multinational from Italy and one by AP Racing, a company based in Coventry but which belongs to Brembo).
There are teams that focus on the stiffness of the caliper and others that, instead, have invested in the opposite direction. Furthermore, all of them seek maximum heat dissipation to make the wheel corner unaffected by temperature radiation to the rim and, therefore, to the tyre.
Each team develops its own caliper concept and studies it in co-engineering with Brembo: it should therefore come as no surprise that the F1 systems are tailor made for each car, with very different characteristics.
The Red Bull RB19 caliper is representative of those looking for maximum weight savings, while the Ferrari one identifies the work that is done according to stiffness, to have a system that is precise when cornering.
In 2022, with the introduction of single-seaters with ground effect, the mass of the braking systems had grown compared to 2021 because they had moved from 13″ to 18″ wheels, allowing for the adoption of larger discs: from 278 mm to 328 mm for the front and from 266 mm to 280 mm for the rear, with a thickness of 32 mm and a number of holes between 1,000 and 1,100 for the front and 900 holes for the rear.
This year a total weight reduction of around 300/350 grams was possible for each single car and the Brembo Racing engineers worked hard to optimize the design of the various components, calipers and carbon parts first of all, going to extremes geometries.
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Reducing the mass means reaching the minimum regulation weight (798 kg) and, when it is possible to go under, introducing ballast in the most useful positions to find the ideal balance of the single-seater and thus find an advantage of performance and tire life, bearing in mind that the Brembo engineers have predicted a 5% increase in braking torque for each Formula 1 car compared to 2022.
All the calipers are made of aluminum alloy machined from solid and nickel-plated and all have 6 pistons. Now let’s analyze the solution chosen by Red Bull which has focused on maximum lightness.
The RB19 caliper looks like a modern work of art due to the complexity of its design: PINs are observed, i.e. those small sharp protrusions useful for improving heat dissipation and to optimize cooling there are several perforated areas useful for heat extraction.
Motorsport Journalist and Technical Drawer Giorgio Piola, on the other hand, managed to draw the Ferrari front caliper which has different characteristics: in Maranello, as we have already said, they preferred to follow the design philosophy aimed at stiffness, which means they lose a bit in terms of lightness to ensure a system in line with the Maranello tradition.
The Scuderia did not want to venture into too extreme solutions, choosing an ultra-tested solution that gave the maximum guarantees: on the SF-23 Ferrari adopted the double separate carbon baskets, while on the F1-75 they were included in a single construction which it made it difficult to manage the air in the “lung” between the two covers. Now there is a specific cover of the disc separated from the actual external ducts and in the interspace to circulate fresh air which is introduced into the corner by specific outlets, separate from those dedicated to cooling.
Ferrari has paid great attention to the air flow rate for cooling the caliper with two separate ducts, while a composite caliper cover has been provided in the central area to prevent heat from radiating to the brake ducts.
Observing the two solutions, one might say that the Reparto Corse did not want to take the path opened up by Aston Martin last year, when it introduced the first reticulated calipers on the AMR22 that set the benchmark.
In Red Bull, Adrian Newey wanted to limit the material of the caliper with PINs, these sharp needles which are the big updates for 2023, while in Maranello they have preferred to be traditional and not very innovative. But if you don’t dare, winning becomes increasingly difficult…
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