FIA bans asymmetric braking for rest of 2024 F1 season: is a top team in crosshairs?. The FIA has explicitly banned the installation of systems on cars that can create asymmetric braking torques.

On Wednesday, July 31, the FIA issued modifications to the Regulations that will come into force from the next event at the end of August in Zandvoort. While on the sporting side, these are relatively minor details, on the technical front, one detail, in particular, deserves some reflection.

The modification in question concerns Art. 11.1.2 (“Brake System”), which now states (modification in bold): “The braking system must be designed so that, within each circuit, the forces applied to the brake pads are of the same magnitude and act as opposing pairs on a given brake disc. Any system or mechanism that can systematically or intentionally produce asymmetric braking torques for a given axle is prohibited.”

What is an asymmetric braking torque?
The Federation has explicitly banned the installation of systems on cars that can create asymmetric braking torques. But what exactly is meant by asymmetric braking torques?

As is well known, current Formula 1 cars can adjust the braking balance between the front and rear axles, thereby allocating more pressure exerted on the brake pedal (and consequently braking torque to the wheels) to one of the two axles, but not to a single wheel in particular.

McLaren 1997: the “brake steer” with the third pedal
However, in the past, some have found a brilliant solution to make one wheel of the same axle “brake more,” particularly the rear axle. We are talking about the “brake steer” (later renamed by Ross Brawn as “fiddle brake”) that McLaren introduced in the second half of 1997. The system, through the famous third pedal, allowed the rear brakes to maximize the braking load on one of the two rear wheels. The advantage was evident: by significantly reducing the speed of the inner rear wheel compared to the outer one, it acted as a pivot, helping the car to “rotate more” and reducing understeer, with much more speed and acceleration in the corner.

A top team in the crosshairs
At this point, it is natural to wonder why the FIA decided to proceed directly with a modification of the Technical Regulations during the year instead of simply issuing a technical directive.

According to the Italian media, one of the top teams was probably pushing development in this direction, without yet having actually implemented any such system on the cars. The Federation may have been warned about the issue and promptly acted to clarify a particularly gray area of the regulations.