Asymmetric braking banned from Zandvoort

We knew the front-rear brake distribution, minus the left-right. So imagine the range of left-right-front-back possibilities. Doliprane required. Regularly, during the season, the FIA ​​updates its sporting and technical regulations in F1. This is what it did on Wednesday July 31, modifying its texts for entry into force planned for the next event in Zandvoort, August 23-25.

Among the new features, one particularly attracted attention: article 11.1.2 concerning the braking system. “ The braking system must be designed so that, in each circuit, the forces applied to the brake pads are of equal magnitude and act in opposite 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.."

Formula 1 cars, like any racing car without ABS, are allowed to adjust the balance of braking between the front and rear axles, allowing drivers to allocate more or less deceleration capacity to one of the two axles. This makes it possible to change the behavior of the car depending on the condition of the track (temperature, rain, etc.), wear or more or less grippy rubber mixture of the tires, filling of the fuel tank, etc.

Would the FIA ​​like to avoid the return of “brake steer” to McLaren ? In 1997, the English team found an innovative solution to ensure that one wheel on the same axle could brake more than the other, particularly at the rear, including in turns where the drivers were supposed to operate. on the accelerator. The advantage was obvious: by reducing the rotation of the inside rear wheel, it allowed the car to pivot better, increasing cornering speed and naturally reducing understeer.

This braking also helped stick the diffuser to the track, like pulling the handbrake on your car causes it to compress the rear shock absorbers. With modern F1, it therefore seems that certain teams have also deployed left-right braking, depending on the circuits, which is particularly efficient. We think in particular of Austria, which almost only turns right, and where the McLarens were stratospheric. Or to circuits with very large, fast curves like Barcelona, ​​Silverstone or Spa, so many races where Mercedes moved up the hierarchy and Ferrari fall. Just coincidence?

The FIA ​​is keeping secret the timing of this appendix to its regulations and the immediacy of its implementation. In Zandvoort, it will be advisable to monitor the – or the stables – which are less well informed.

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