Formula 1 brakes are some of the most incredible pieces of tech on the planet. They’re able to haul a car doing over 200 mph down to walking speed in a matter of seconds, generating up to 5 g’s of force on deceleration. But how do they work? This video is a nifty explainer.
Scott Mansell of the Driver61 YouTube channel got his hands on a collection of brake system parts from an F1 car, and took the time to explain how each piece works. The first thing you’ll notice is that there’s not one, but two master cylinders. In F1 cars, there’s one for the front brakes, and one for the rear. They’re mounted on a pivoting fork that’s used to adjust brake bias, which is pretty genius.
The wild engineering behind this absurdly powerful braking system.