How F1 Drivers Brake SO LATE

Formula 1 drivers are INCREDIBLE at braking, and most normal drivers are not. That’s because it’s simply the MOST IMPORTANT and MOST DIFFICULT part of driving a fast car quickly. It is the difference between the greats and the not-so-greats.

But how are they actually generating MORE grip and higher cornering speeds, using the brake pedal alone? And why, if you’ve been to a racing experience, are they teaching you the WRONG technique? Let me explain.

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[stoffelsf]

The sim footage really helps in understanding the concept - definitely worth using them for future videos!

[tomywarren]

Great idea of using iRacing to illustrate, but I'd make sure to show the footage at least at 30fps to observe the vehicle's movement properly. Great video as always!

[AmrikSadhra]

Simulator shots are great, but the difference in FPS is jarring. If they could be recorded at 60fps in future vids that'd be great!

[leolundgren]

Changing the brake bias for each corner... that's some hardcore dedication to racing right there. Not sure if I'll ever have the level of skill to drive like that. Makes you appreciate these drivers even more. :)

[philipjamesparsons]

It was Mario Andretti, who said "drivers still think the brakes are for slowing the car down”. Using the brakes to turn the car is a bewildering subject that Scott, only just touched on. I read an interview with Phil Keen, the sportscar racer. He said that drivers he coaches often brake later than him. However, the car is not as balanced through and out of the corner.

[lukewilliamson]

7:43 I think what a lot of beginners fail to realize is that you don’t just want to reach 100% grip at one point in the braking phase, mid corner, and through to the exit phase, but you want to be getting 100% of the grip that you can through all four tyres continuously through the corner. A lot of people can easily find the limit of grip in the initial braking phase, but won’t stay right on the edge of grip fully through the entire braking phase. The same goes for the mid corner and exit, it’s easy to get to 100% at one point but hard to maintain it through the entirety of the corner. Realizing that and having that mindset of: it’s not always about braking later, higher minimum speed, and getting up to full throttle earlier, it’s carrying just a little bit more speed through everything in between that I need to do to find the last couple tenths, has really helped me improve.

[wife]

despite the fps issues (which are v important) i think we’re all in agreement that the simulator footage is very helpful. thank you for the work scott, editors, etc. 😎

[ElCapAddict]

Because their legs are strong. Saved you 9 minutes.

[QuantumSngularity]

When i finally got out of the wrong mindset that i should brake always in a straight line and then turn, in the sim-racers i found that i really started pushing the brake bias further back, especially in the mid-engined GT3 and GTE cars. In real life i've been only once behind the wheel of a GT3 spec-ed car from 2015 (Audi R8 pre-Evo; best €3000 ever spent) and 2 things really surprised me - how much lighter the steering was compared to what i expected from all the sim-racing i've done and the way my rig was set up. And the other - how much easier trail braking in real life was when you can feel the car and the grip with your entire body through the seat and the pedals, not only through the wheel. Now i apply that technique everywhere which even allowed me for a short period of time to hold the lap record at one of the local carting tracks with their fastest carting class. However i also found out that when they switched to electric only carts, i can't drive nearly as fast as when i could hear the engine. Turns out, at least for me, the sound from the engine is just as important as everything else or i get a distorted or dialed down sense of speed.

[noidea]

Love the simulation shots, really helps with the explanation

[Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab]

Porsche Experience Silverstone taught me trail-braking and I could easily feel how much quicker & how much more stability the car had as a result. (Lady instructor too) 👍🏻

[MaximusGDN]

You can often see drivers changing brake bias just before attempting an overtaking move aswell. That's really impresive to see as they have to do it in a very short amount of time

[juzoli]

You might get more grip on the front of you are breaking while turning, but also use that grip for braking, so you have less for turning. So it is absolutely not trivial how to break while cornering, but needs a lot of skill to balance it.

[Real]

Trail braking FTW
When you nail it, man, it feels SO good. And you just make SO much time it sometimes doesnt make sense.

But mess it up and i hope you enjoy looking back at the way you came.

[fastnick]

I've had a couple great instructors teach some of these methods on the race track. It's really amazing the difference it makes when someone properly explains it. Great video

[ishraqshams]

the simulation shots definitely helps alot in understanding difficult concepts specially for people like me who have next to nothing real life experience, only technical knowledge. however, the footage is a bit choppy so you might want to look into that

[LeoDragoGR]

As a kid Hotwheels Acceleracers helped me learn a lot of the basics on driving skills and tactics that can be used for both racing and city driving. When it came to braking the quote I always remember from that series is “balance increases traction”. Have always kept that as a core fundamental for good driving

[aaronb]

I love the sim stuff. I get to watch it done properly by the experts all the time, seeing it done wrong and how it actually effects you times is exceptionally helpful.

[christopherrose]

Fascinating explanation of what appears to be a simple process Scott. Really well illustrates the problem of not trailbraking on track which applies to any car as well as the differences between braking in a downforce grip dominated car versus a car with little no no downforce. My only minor quibble is I do recall being taught to trail-brake at Skip Barber Driving School back in the 90's but then I did a full 3-day class and not a driving experience so perhaps that is why I got better schooled. It is really obvious that is you are totally off the brakes then the car has less grip but also that you want to transition from brake to throttle quickly but smoothly ensuring you are trying to keep enough backend for the car to be stable as you come off the brake. How F1 drivers manage to do this braking and balancing so delicately given how compressed the time is for them and the sheer forces involved is something that never ceases to amaze me because I could barely do it in a lowish donforce race car. I really wish F1 would do more pedal camera coverage because as you so eloquently point out this is perhaps the most difficult skill and at traces of speed or even g forces doesnt show the subtleties involved. Great video!

[MnsieurX]

One of the best videos for intermediate racers who know how to drive on the limit! Brake pedal bias is one of the best things to have in a car... And thanks for covering the adaptive changes that happen through out the live of a race session... Not boasting that I have an Ariel Atom but without any any nannies, you learn how to drive it in any condition and being able to know how limit works, how the over the limit can help really changes things. The AA is a pure driver car. Not track and down force oriented but you learn how to manage the grip or slips faster than with any other can IMOHO.

Thanks for this video, it's like revisiting a golf pro to confirm your swing is as good as can be - if only that was true... You always get a diffenrent shot each time for every curve!