Why It’s Almost Impossible to Stop From 200 MPH in 3 Seconds

I've always been fascinated by the brakes in Formula 1 cars. They're able to stop from over 200 MPH in under four seconds, and when you see clips of these cars going into the braking zones it almost looks like a glitch.
I wanted to learn more about how the brakes in Formula 1 cars worked, and race cars in general. What makes them different to standard brakes on road cars, and would it be possible to stop even faster?
Music from Epidemic Sound

[@truantray]

The F1 brake explanation is out dated. Since 2014, F1 uses brake by wire with load cells and a computer controller to balance rear braking with energy harvesting.

[@jcn115]

I was going to say the same thing.

[@JoshuaPlays99]

True, what he explained about the effort required to apply the brakes is still true however.

[@baileyharrison1030]

@@JoshuaPlays99What advantages do you get from artificially requiring a large amount of force on the pedal to brake? More precise control?

[@JoshuaPlays99]

@baileyharrison1030 far more precise control, and also remember they can pull up to 6g on deceleration. If the pedal was too soft they wouldnt be able to modulate it as easily. They dont actually need to press that insanely hard because the gforces assist them in pressing the pedal.

[@jeremyfoster23]

Don’t they use a hybrid braking system with bbw in conjunction with standard braking

[@elebeu]

It's actually very easy to decelerate within those parameters, if you aren't concerned with the condition of the vehicle afterwards... ask any bridge abutment.

[@cjsawinski]

1:47… F1 drivers adjust their brake bias multiple times per lap. And they actually only run a front bias on 1 or 2 turns per track (hair pins or very tight turns like that). Most drivers actually use a slight rear brake bias most of the time, a rear bias actually helps slow the car faster than a front bias, it’s easier on the front tires, better for weight transfer, helps with rotation, and lastly helps with trail braking. I only know this because I’m a racing (and F1) nerd, grew up at the race track following dad around on his race weekends, and spent a handful of years karting and 4 years in SCCA and club racing (Formula Ford, spec Miata, group G in a Porsche 993 race car, and one season in a Porsche GT3 Cup Car).

[@cjsawinski]

9:38… the Hans device helps with this a lot! With the Hans your head can only move forward about an inch (assuming you have it set up correctly), and looking side to side you can only turn your head a couple on inches. Makes checking your mirrors a real pain. But it is nice to feel it catching your head under braking.

[@-aid4084]

The brake bias ratio is super dependant on the wheel width, tire pressures, tire compound, the suspension, the sway bars, and the chassis itself. If you just slap a certian ratio on any car, either the front brakes or the rear brakes will be at their limit while the other isn't braking as hard as it can be. The scenario in which using a high rear brake bias would obviously be with massive rear tires and stiff suspension, so not much weight gets transferred to the front tires, maybe even with a ton of downforce on the rear too Road cars generally do have too much front brake bias, but that's just a safety thing because the average driver can't correct oversteer that well. Tldr, it's unsafe and sometimes un-wise to have a rear brake bias in most cars, because like too much front brake bias, you aren't braking to the fullest but you get the added instability. (A little is a good thing, any more and that's asking for trouble)

[@rs1199]

In 2019 I watched the German at the Track. Even the 'little' breaking zone for the Sachskurve was pretty insane. They came in easily 100kph faster than the Porsche Cup running just before, and still applied the brakes 40-50m later. Keep up the good work :)

[@Real28]

I have a concrete wall that argues it can stop something going 200mph in less than a second. Are you from Ohio? That reference to Millennium Force is really... specific.

[@ROO1KAT]

1:09 700Gs???? You would cease to exist

[@bastordd]

700Gs 😂😂😂😂

[@avint247]

700Gs😂😂😂. The most F1 driver experience Gs in race is around 5gs. Verstappen silverstone impact arounds 21gs. 700gs means nothing left of the cars and you wont find any human remains maybe.😂

[@DMalek]

Bro, chill, you can hear in his voice it was an exaggeration to amplify the insane speeds an F1 car can go in curves and turns.

[@Hamisxa]

@@avint247 it was 51g i think bro

[@JJW-fg1zp]

Yea idk what's wrong with him.

[@johnandan1594]

So the real reason we can't brake faster is because we would literally kill the driver if formula 1 decelerated faster

[@konwershp89]

No, not really, you would have to hold that breaking for longer time when it's 2-3s max it's like a small crash and they still pull a lot of g's while breaking but it's not enough to be dangerous in length and force either

[@BigStickBeier]

HOLD MY BEER ILL TRY

[@MangoIsLove55]

Inform me when its done

[@TheSimRacingHub.]

@@MangoIsLove55he managed it check the news

[@MangoIsLove55]

TONIGHT ON SMNN

[@e1dsd720]

you have a car that can go 320km/h? Respect lol

[@PaiTrades]

How many bottles did you drink 😅

[@Jay_The_Cat]

As you say, it is possible to make an F1 car brake more effectively than current regulations allow but at that point we're pretty much approaching the limits of human endurance. I remember Alex Zanardi's second stint in F1 with Williams back in the late 90's: he was struggling to adjust to such an extent that the team gave him steel brakes at one race - with a weight penalty of 1kg per wheel. 👀

[@likilike501]

F1 drivers probably could still do it. Depends how many times and there could be a risk of injury of course. Based on how quickly they would be braking it could range from minor to serious injury of course. I would really like to know how far in this case can human body trained for this go. To be honest in case they would be braking this hard only while driving straight they could sustain it for the entire race i think. When the braking force would go too high even on straights the only option i can think of would be to literaly rotate entire cockpit by 180 degrees. In the past army was testing human limits for G-forces. Humans can handle a lot more G-forces if they are facing back first. That is also why flight attendants on planes have seats facing backwards. They have higher chance of survival this way. People are able to survive a LOT of G-forces in a straight line. Example: Pilot John Stapp Quote from wikipedia: By riding the decelerator sled, in his 29th and last ride at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Stapp demonstrated that a human can withstand at least 46.2 g (in the forward position, with adequate harnessing). This is the highest known acceleration voluntarily encountered by a human, set on December 10, 1954.[7][8] Stapp reached a speed of 632 mph (1,017 km/h), which broke the land speed record and made him the fastest man on Earth.

[@Jasongilliar]

I mean yeah f1 driver could probably do it. But only for qualyfing. Lets look back at qatar. The tyres didnt last as long as expected so the race direction told the teams that they need to ptt every 18laps. That stints where so short that the drivers didnt needed to watch after the tyres, they could just Drive qualyfing pace the whole Race. Ocon vomitted at lap 15, stroll blacked out during highspeed corners and logan needed to stop because he also had Problems with sickness this weekend who wasnt from f1. So if f1 drivers doesnt Drive +6 secounds slower like usual to watch after the tyres to go the distance, than its borderline suicidal to race a complete race. Like seriously suicidal if we pull Up to spa monaco jeddah vegas or singapore who are one of the most Dangerous tracks we visit. If we had the rule there than oh dear. I know Qatar is a highspeed track so yeah but if they say the vomit at lap 15 of 50 than even on thouse tracks (who arent slow speed only monaco) are to dangerouse. Monaco is so hard on your mind if you blackout at lap 50 of 80 your instantly in the wall maybe with full speed. Singapore is hot and a street track like monaco. Jeddah is the fastest street track of the world with lots of blind corners, and Spa killed drivers in 2023 and 2019. So i love it when we break track records Like in jeddah. But i think we should stay at the speed we are. I think we are at the max with what a human can do. Its just sad how many ppl dont see it and say its just driving cars. And that football is harder than f1 or just stupid things like, well even i can drive this blabla

[@fabianrudzewski9027]

There is a guy on KZbin, that engineered an RC car with huge amounts of downforce. At the moment he's at 10g peak deceleration at 70mph and thats with Aero developed at home. So without rules, an actual F1 team should be able to achieve pretty staggering deceleration values.

[@dickfitzwelliner2807]

A British kid with an old school mini Cooper? I forget his name but he makes up a lot of rc stuff that's pretty cool

[@fabianrudzewski9027]

@@dickfitzwelliner2807 indeterminate design and his RC Hypercar project. No idea how he looks, can't remember that he's ever been Infront of the cam, only voiceover.

[@RNA0ROGER]

A combo of active aero and well designed tyers, the stopping power would be strong enough to cause the drivers to pass out.

[@fabianrudzewski9027]

@@RNA0ROGER intermediate design didn't even need active aero. He's "just" got really good fixed one and gets 10g peak deceleration at 110kmh.

[@RNA0ROGER]

@@fabianrudzewski9027 Active would help below 110

[@ThePhiliposophy]

Besides the human strength the other major limiting factor on braking is grip. The brakes only need to be as strong as the maximum available grip. And adding more grip to decrease the braking distance comes with a lot of trade offs. Either in terms of added rolling resistance, increased aerodynamic drag, rate of tire degradation etc. The difficulty in making brakes for racing isn't their strength but rather their durability and consistency.

[@deimosphob]

No abs actually stops faster on dirt as rolling prevents the tires from digging or skidding which uses more than rolling grip. Try it, it's one of the first things you learn in offroad racing and even just riding off road.

[@stromlo]

Fun anecdote: Years ago some friends and I went roadtripping in a normal modern-ish car. We somehow got into a rural area with unpaved roads that seemed like wet clay surface. We have a video of driving at (iirc) 20kph, then applying brakes (with ABS kicking in). The car pretty much just went on as if I wasn't braking. We did that a couple of times for fun then slowly tried to get back to tar roads...

[@alskooper3319]

Total PIA with ABS when four wheeling or driving unimproved roads. Unsafe! I’d love a switch to disable ABS for those situations.

[@deimosphob]

@@alskooper3319 lil tip, you can wire a switch or just unplug one of your wheel speed sensors, should work just the same as it should immediately throw a code and disable vsc and abs.

[@hybrid.roodragon1226]

Lesson to be learned is at lower speeds with heavier machines less abs is needed on looser matterials unless you are not trying to sink in and get stuck

[@jacoblittle3209]

Yup, I went to the Long Beach Grand Prix last year and was standing at the inside of a 90 degree left turn. Most cars took that turn so fast it lifted the front left wheel off the ground and I saw one guy apparently forget about the turn and went straight. Watching him hit the brakes and stop before hitting the barricade was amazing

[@assettobam4880]

Awesome video! Really enjoyed watching it!

[@solsol1624]

Excellent video. One small point about the lighter weight of carbon brakes, is that it's unsprung weight, so very important from a suspension POV. Also less kinetic energy in the rotation of the wheels which also helps braking.

[@stephenkohler3472]

It literally shakes the ground. I got to see an F1 race in Indianapolis in the early 2000's and the braking zone for turn 1 was the best place to watch. The entire area smelled like a metal shop when someone has been grinding steel.

[@thomasbezencon2121]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but by adding 50 lbs you were already simulating 6g. You have 10 lbs of head and an additional 50 lbs of weight. So the required 60 lbs in total.

[@paradiselost9946]

yeah yeah, he missed that. but then theres the helmet as well...

[@SirBlicks]

Another great showing of the Brakes. Lewis Hamilton Q3 Qualifying Highlights Spa 2020

[@church493]

"Not always" rotating wheels stop faster. On loose pavement, eg. gravel road, or snow, where braking distance can be shorter with blocked wheels due gravel/snow building up in front of blocked wheel

[@Black2KGSR]

Went to the Montreal GP back in 2010. Our seats were right in the braking zone before the hairpin and it was amazing.

[@bennson13]

What an incredibly informative video 👏

[@davidmaslenka5940]

Great video keep going

[@72rmboyd]

F1 drivers heads are tethered to the chasis, this stops the head popping forward. The sideways motion is what they really work on

[@DonLee1980]

They can slow down from 300kph to 100kph faster than they can go from 100kph to a stop. Of course all their ability to brake is about the traction on the ground and the higher the speed, the more downforce, the more they can brake. Turn 1 of Monza is mighty, but it's also their "worst" braking performance demonstration, because these cars are in the lowest downforce trim. Normally at other circuits, they can brake with even higher G. But what makes Monza's turn 1 the most fascinating is because the delta between the top speed and the minimum speed needed to make the chicane is the highest of all circuits

[@cleonwallace2267]

thanks for the great explanation love it

[@rofalmatt]

great vid very imformative

[@msi6824]

Great video!

[@Its_LMP]

Love that you went above and beyond to simulate withstanding 5Gs to prove a point, great videos as always.

[@Sangheili91]

Best F1 channel on KZbin

[@connor1424]

That was an amazing intro.

[@tookitogo]

3:22 Cast iron is actually a very poor conductor of heat, as far as metals go. It’s its high thermal mass that makes it useful: it _holds_ lots of heat.

[@mediocre-motorcycle-modifi6818]

Another factor is the track rips apart if you brake more. Shanghai already has big ridges in the braking zone.

[@Oliversfunyoutubechannel]

Awesome video

[@napalmholocaust9093]

The head thing at some gyms can take whatever you put on the spindle up to about 8 inches of plates. Seen dudes do the stack. Remember one crazy guy with traps that resembled a towel rolled up under his shirt across his shoulders. Always had to wait for him, he did a few short sets but hogged equipment resting.

[@AKG58Z]

Good content on brakes.

[@mikeice38]

It's the tires

[@MADmidway]

Ok ok....... I'm a subscriber now. Good work.

[@_JStefanelli]

Gotta respect the commitment! Hope your neck's fine!

[@drew425]

I saw this in Austin in 2021. The turn 12 grandstand was pretty empty on Friday and Saturday so I floated around a bit and on one side of the grandstand the car flies right past you while on the other end it just felt like watching your mom pull out of the driveway and up the street.

[@matthewbrightman3398]

When you said “and change” I subscribed

[@ZulRf]

No matter your brake is, if your tires can't keep up, you'll just lock it and going even longer. For normal road conditions, it's much better to invest on better tire. Stay safe on the road, people.

[@marcuswayne8848]

You could have a special damper that holds the helmet from the rear (while allowing some freedom of movement). That way the damper would absorb most of the G force and the neck would not do all the work of holding the head.

[@Navoii.]

You're right, it's not all just about 0-60. There's also comfort (EVs excel in that as well) But feats like braking from 200-0 in 3 seconds isn't something that's for the EV vs. ICE discussion, it's for general engineering that should be optimised

[@faenarae_]

Don’t forget that the main limiting factor in breaking (or accelerating) is ultimately traction. That means the tires are the most importantly part of the braking system in any car. Never cheap out on your tires, folks.

[@modut6258]

Rotating tires will always stop faster than tires skidding on the surface. Snow: "Hold my beer"

[@szymoniak75]

dirt and gravel especially

[@davidgriffin79]

1:09 700g, I think not, that would be the equivalent of an acceleration/deceleration of 6867ms-^2 and equivalent to a stopping time of 6.5 ms from a speed of 100MPH exerting a force on a person of mass 100kg of ~687kN, i.e. the equivalent of crashing into a tree at 100MPH. The maximum g-force during a formula 1 has been measured at 6g cornering, which translates into a centripetal acceleration of 58.86ms-^2 or a centripetal reaction on a 100kg driver of 5.9kN.

[@timvlogtv512]

Did I see a Gibson les Paul cherry sunburst in the background?

[@adamozsvath5323]

For the pilots HANS helps a lot against the big G forces. Maybe it helps also at breaking, not just in emergency cases.

[@stromlo]

Good point.

[@somedude4805]

Formula One drivers are top tier athletes. The forces involved break weaker men.

[@daydreamer266]

Yo was that the DVP?

[@gokulrajnainaraj491]

Having bigger wheels with wider tires and bigger discs will increase rotational mass leading to the same performance as we currently have. F1 breaking has come to a point where this is as close as it gets to stop a car in the fastest way possible. However I’m not saying it can’t be improved but having bigger wheels and discs are not the solution.

[@enzochoi923]

it's quite easy actually - any car going 200mph can do it. provided a strong enough wall that is

[@TheHighborn]

You could stop instantly, all you need is am assive, thick, reinforced thick wall. Well... you can stop once, that is.

[@moizkhokhar815]

they make stuff for these kinds of deceleration. Its called a wall

[@Midtable1881]

8:39 the goodest doggo

[@8alakai8]

there in situation thatlocking the wheels is faster to stop then just not locking them up in gravel and lose snow the gravel will build up infront of your tire making you stop quicker but you do lose controle and thats the most importend thing abouth abs the controle part even on a dry road you will stop faster if you manage the brake your self then having abs but in a panic you will just slam the nrakes thats wy they have abs

[@dontowelie1302]

5:35 : 4,6 Megajoules = 4600 kilojoules = 1100 kcal = 20,75 oreo Cookies ~ 2 Rolls. The heat of burning 2 rolls of Oreo Cookies with your body's efficiency

[@bbb12228]

Brake on a rubberized dragster track

[@kennetha6594]

Great video but the background music is a little too loud.

[@godfire6498]

8:02 in F1, the drivers' heads are attached to the car

[@petersmythe6462]

It's hard to stop in 3 seconds. But it's easy to do so in 3 hundredths of a second.

[@H-Shop]

It's actually fairly easy to go from 200 to 0 in 3 seconds or even less : just hit a wall.

[@deadbeef576]

People jumping from several stories high can stop even faster from 200 MPH than 3 seconds

[@zukacs]

if you want a really cool video on brakes, watch "driving 4 answer" video about brakes

[@xdtjv2843]

I wonder how fast rally cars brake

[@andrewbakker7640]

Dude the music in the background is hella loud. Good vid tho

[@avganekkkk8876]

ABS NEVER STOP CAR FASTER IT ALLOWS YOU TO KEEP CONTROL OVER DECELERATING WEHICLE BECOUSE YOU DONT BLOCK WHEELS

[@wendellgreenidge3362]

Aren’t most brake rotors made of steel and not cast iron?

[@paradiselost9946]

bikes yes, cars no. havent seen a car yet with oem steel discs...

[@wendellgreenidge3362]

@@paradiselost9946 you are absolutely correct, I just looked it up

[@user-fd7ju5sb6b]

Dude. Metal weights on a polished floor? Bet you’re renting

[@Derekzparty]

If you pulled 700g's in a corner you would become part of the corner! 1:08

[@Kokospudsful]

how does a pushup simulate racing ga. how bout just stand up and walk around

[@JTop79]

700g's?

[@tdevosodense]

🤔 dont they have brake by wire ??

[@feezy15]

if they wear hans.. they dont care about decel lol. its the lateral . imo

[@Kamidesu_Kun]

Bro said 700 G’s??.. 700 would turn your insides into juice. You’d be blended. Try going for 5 to 8. And 10-30 at a instant stop crash. Maybe just 50 if it’s rlly bad.

[@maxc300s]

Crash test pilots Hold ma beer

[@jamsbong]

Love the Red Bull flag!

[@Kurikost_]

interesting article on wikipeadi about g-force limits on a human body.... Eli Beeding

[@antontsau]

6G? Welcome to aerobatics, where it is very far from the limit. 4G down sitting in good seat (pull up in loops and so on) I can feel, but it is hardly noticeable, just little discomfort. 2G up (upside down, in some reverse maneuveres when you hang on belts)? Very unpleasant but bearable. 2G up + rotation? Burpable. Real maniacs fly with 8G (professional plane structure load limit is 10G), it requires special sequence planning as on 8G for more than couple of seconds you get blackout.

[@idonjohnson6999]

A rolling tire stops better? Non at all! Rolling tire doesn’t stop at all. ABS is only to keep the car steerable, not aid in stopping distance.

[@nathan584]

Impossible in under 3 seconds? Oh yeah watch this (slams into 5ft concrete wall at 200mph)

[@laurean5998]

Uhm… 200-0 in 3 seconds is just over 3g average. If you just used a fan and skirts to keep the downforce at low speed that is easily possible

[@zbot2123]

Brakes are the most interesting part of a car! Important for safety and speed! Engines are boring.

[@axe4770]

Stopping from 200mph in 3sec is possible and already been achieved long ago. The problem is you will more likely to break your neck from that stopping power than anything else. Engineers are capable of making anything, but it is the driver itself is the bottle neck due to our nature and are not capable of handling such high G force even with assistance of HANS device. You will not break your neck but the blood in your body will rushed through your veins under those intense loads pooling in unwanted locations that can cause life altering injuries or even death and there is nothing you can do to prevent such complex problems from happening inside of the human body.

[@dodybrown6726]

Hi Jonny

[@eddohan]

I was almost more focussed on the background music. Not becuase the guy was annoying, but the music was to loud. Maybe it is just me 🙈. Nice info though

[@paradiselost9946]

listen to a video with good narration... radio is another one... very very subtle "bedding music"... just enough to cover the hiss, the noise floor of the recording equipment. but as soon as its loud enough to actually be made out, its too loud! it seems most of these "throw some clips together and talk crap for 10 minutes" type channels havent heard about it yet...

[@eddohan]

@@paradiselost9946 He, thats Nicola Tesla in your profile picture right? 👍

[@paradiselost9946]

@@eddohan yep. not many people seem familiar with it...

[@eddohan]

@@paradiselost9946 Unfortunatly not. Tesla should be in the history books in stead of Edison 👍

[@wendellgreenidge3362]

Pulling 700 g’s lol that’s impossible

[@smoketinytom]

Ah yes, high performance cars need high performance brakes that will never exceed 100mph throughout their life... Honestly, the people buying them won't go beyond 70mph.

[@bastordd]

First F1 cars weight is with driver... Everyone now have 80 kg for a driver... if your driver dont weight 80kg you need to add weight on the seat... Second, brakes is not the number 1 fact f1 cars brake so well... its all about weight tyre grip and aerodynamics...

[@DumbArse]

He said the second part in the video

[@fixento]

That not true you CBR will not stop in half that distance unless the Hummer's brakes are crap You bike has two wheels with small tire road contact patches, verses the Hummer with 4 large wheels. You CBR will stop in the same distance as car.

[@aluisious]

"Watching a car pull 700Gs" huh??

[@Rich77UK]

Please get your facts right. Simple things...700G corner? Driver would be liquidised. 1800F IS 982C not over 1000C!

[@georgecarousos6735]

A better explanation would be why do you have a tire in your closet? LOL

[@Jakenurmi]

Just drive to wall?

[@MarkoHR]

fym almost

[@TWAC97]

I bet 10 million (for my family) I can stop a car (speed doesn't matter) in less than 1sec.

[@marvinochieng6295]

too loud background feckin music but good video

[@godfire6498]

a wall would say otherwise

[@moonliteX]

Dont dragsters accelerate to 200 in 3 seconds? Braking is easier than accelerating.

[@sammy_1_1]

700Gs more like 7