Source: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
[Saba Sports News] Brembo is an Italian company specializing in the engineering design, development, and manufacturing of high-performance braking systems and components. Currently, it supplies brake calipers to all 10 Formula 1 (F1) teams and brake discs to half of them. Although all 10 teams use Brembo calipers, the designs are not identical. Calipers are tailored to each driver’s preferences—some favor stiffer calipers, though this increases weight. Thus, stiffness and weight are equally critical in caliper design. Under braking pressure during races, calipers experience varying degrees of deformation, giving them a lifespan of approximately 10,000 kilometers. F1 braking systems now employ titanium pistons, which meet three key demands: lightweight, high strength, and heat resistance. The brake discs are made of carbon fiber, but their production is highly complex, taking around four months to manufacture a single F1 carbon disc. Depending on cooling needs, each disc is drilled with hundreds to over a thousand holes, with a minimum diameter of 3mm as per regulations. Brembo’s precision standards allow a drilling tolerance of no more than 0.02mm. After drilling, the holes’ inner surfaces are coated with an anti-oxidation layer to prevent wear under extreme heat. Brembo’s F1 brake discs exhibit minimal wear—just 0.01mm per kilometer—allowing a set to last multiple race weekends. Due to the intricate manufacturing process, a single F1 brake disc set costs over £100,000.