I am doing some research about F1 brake failing. Last race in Singapore Ferrari had bad brake issues where the brakes were getting too hot. Other cars were fine, so it was definitely something to do with the Ferrari design. It was not a brake-by-wire issue.

As an F1 Engineer, you are tasked with listing out the most likely root causes of the brakes getting too hot in layman's terms in a memo to the Ferrari leadership to start debugging why the issues happened.

Here are some notes I made about the issue:

1. How a brake fails

   1. " fails structurally and basically explodes into dust."
   2. The brake components - As others have already pointed out, the carbon-carbon brakes can overheat as they have a very narrow range where they work properly. I little too hot and the carbon begins to disintegrate. Too cold and they don't work properly either. Most common is to use cooling ducts that are too small for the conditions and the brakes overheat and disintegrate.
   3. but i do know that by around 1200 - 1500 ºC you will start to get thermal degradation of the Carbon Carbon. Thats when you start seeing lots of brake dust flying off the cars, i feel like Force India was famous for it a couple of seasons ago, spewing loads of dust.
   4. The brake by wire system - They currently use a brake by wire system which works with the kinetic energy recovery system to allow the harvesting of kinetic energy from the rear wheels. The brake by wire system balances the drag created by harvesting with the braking pressure generated by the driver and, at the same time, prevents the rear wheels from skidding or locking while maximizing slowing. It's a very difficult balance to achieve and if there is any issue with a sensor or wiring or electrical noise, it can fail miserably.

2. About the brakes

   1. Brake discs on Formula One cars can reach extreme temperatures, causing them to glow red during heavy braking zones. Made from carbon carbon composite material, these discs operate at over 1000 degrees Celsius when drivers slow from high speeds. The glow is most visible at night races or during dusk events when lighting highlights the intense heat generated by the friction between the pads and discs.
   2. This heat is a critical part of the braking system’s performance. The carbon material needs to be in a specific temperature range for maximum stopping power and minimal wear. Teams design brake ducts to manage airflow and keep the discs within their ideal window. When the brakes are too cool they lose efficiency, and if they overheat they risk fading or structural damage. The glowing discs seen on F1 cars are a visual reminder of the immense forces and precision engineering required to slow a 330 km/h car in just a few seconds.
   3. Formula 1 carbon-carbon brakes reach ==peak temperatures over 1000°C (1832°F) during heavy braking, but they operate most efficiently within an optimal range, typically starting effective braking around 200-400°C==.
   4. Formula 1 uses Carbon Carbon composite brakes, this material has very low grip at room temperature, like sliding two pieces of glass on top of each other. For the material to provide any meaningful friction the material (hence the whole brake) needs to be heated to at least 300ºC.
   5. Another important consideration is that the brakes being hot is what puts most of the heat into the tires. Yes the tire tread gets hot under heavy stearing, but the brakes are dumping probably 100-150 thousand watts of heat over a lap (1.83kg of gas/lap @ 46.4MJ/kg = 85MJ I figure maybe 1/4 of that, 20MJ goes into the brakes on a brake heavy circuit, 20Mj/130seconds=153kW)
   6. Kimi's infamous "I know what I'm doing" soundbite, what he is actually doing is warming the brakes down the straight to put heat into the tires, rather than weaving heavily to put a little bit of heat in which will disipate in a couple of seconds when not at racing speed.
   7. End of straight as low as 200C, can get up to 1000C
   8. F1 brakes at about 5g
      1. Aero load could be 3 - 4 x the weight of the car

Here’s a straight-shooting memo you can drop in front of Ferrari leadership.

Memo: Likely Root Causes of Brake Overheating at Singapore & How to Debug

Context (what we know): At the 2025 Singapore GP, both cars reported overheating brakes and pace dropped late in the race. Ferrari’s own post-race notes mention rising brake temps (e.g., Hamilton on lap 59), and external reports framed “brake issues” as a key factor in the result. Singapore was also run under the FIA’s first-ever “heat hazard” declaration, raising baseline thermal load. (Ferrari)

Why this track is punishing: Marina Bay is stop-start, low-speed, high-humidity, at night. Low average speed → weak “ram air” through ducts; repeated big stops → high disc energy; dirty air while following → even less cooling. F1 carbon discs regularly spike near ~1000 °C under heavy braking; their effective window starts a few hundred °C—outside that, performance and wear suffer fast. (brembo.com)

Most Likely Root Causes (ranked, plain-English)

1. Insufficient cooling airflow for Singapore’s conditions

   • What it means: The brake inlet/duct geometry or blanking level didn’t pass enough air at Singapore’s lower speeds. Even a “normally fine” duct can be marginal here.
   • Why we think so: Marina Bay is among the toughest for brake cooling; discs can approach ~1000 °C and must be kept in a narrow window. Brembo notes disc usage range broadly ~350–1000 °C; outside that, wear skyrockets. (brembo.com)

2. Partial blockage of a brake inlet during the race

   • What it means: A visor tear-off, rubber “marble,” or debris partially covered an inlet, choking airflow.
   • Why we think so: This failure mode is well documented (e.g., Leclerc 2022 Spa; Sainz 2019 Canada; Alonso 2015 Spain). One car can be hit worse than the other, but both can suffer in traffic. (ESPN.com)

3. Heat soak into the wheel-end assembly (caliper, hub, rim)

   • What it means: Even if the disc sees some flow, poor internal heat shielding/vent paths let heat accumulate in caliper and hub, reducing fluid and component margin. Calipers want to stay far cooler than discs.
   • Why we think so: Brembo highlights very different safe temperature regimes for discs vs. calipers; design must keep calipers far cooler. (brembo.com)

4. Disc/pad spec and ventilation pattern not optimized for this circuit

   • What it means: Hole count/pattern, disc thickness, and pad recipe might have been chosen for another track’s energy profile. At Singapore, you want aggressive internal ventilation and a compound that survives long, hot stops at low ram air.
   • Why we think so: Brembo notes recent evolution to very high hole counts for cooling; mismatch can elevate temps and wear. (brembo.com)

5. Pad drag or caliper piston retraction issues

   • What it means: Pads don’t fully “release,” so you’re lightly braking on the straights, creating extra heat. This can be caused by seals, tolerances, contamination, or knock-back compensation behavior.
   • Why we think so: Common mechanical cause of unexplained heat rise; manifests as rising temps even in clean air with modest braking.

6. Rear axle thermal load distribution higher than modeled (non-BBW causes)

   • What it means: Even if BBW is behaving, hydraulic bias, migration maps, or rear aero balance changes could force more friction work into one end than planned. More friction work = more heat.
   • Why we think so: At a heat-stressed street circuit, small setup choices (ride height, balance, brake migration targets) can move significant energy to one axle.

7. Operational factors compounding heat

   • What it means: Running in traffic for long stints (dirty air), safety-car restarts, “brake brushing” for tire warm-up, or repeated lift-and-coast cancellations by race circumstances.
   • Why we think so: Singapore’s conditions plus the FIA “heat hazard” baseline elevate everything; any extra heat-adding behavior pushes you over the edge. (Reuters)

Fast Triage: What To Check First (48–72 hours)

• Physical evidence:

  • Inspect all four corners for debris ingestion (tear-offs, rubber, tape) at the inlet lip and internal vanes. Keep and photo-log any finds. (Known F1 failure mode.) (ESPN.com)
  • Borescope the internal duct and disc ventilation paths for partial blockages or melted/warped internal guides.

• Telemetry & video correlation:

  • Plot brake disc temps vs. car speed vs. airflow surrogate (pitot/ride height) and following distance (use GPS delta/video). Rising temps in dirty air → airflow margin issue.
  • Look for pad-on-disc drag on straights: residual torque, rising temps with closed throttle and no driver input.
  • Compare front vs. rear energy per lap and bias/migration traces to see if one axle is doing abnormal work (even with BBW assumed okay).

• Spec verification:

  • Confirm disc spec (hole count/pattern) & pad recipe actually matched Singapore’s expected braking energy and low-speed cooling environment. Cross-check with supplier guidance on operating windows (e.g., disc ~350–1000 °C). (brembo.com)
  • Verify caliper heat shielding and seal condition; look for discoloration or fluid boil indicators near caliper zones (calipers should remain far cooler than discs). (brembo.com)

• Environment & ops:

  • Map stints where cars were in heavy traffic vs. clean air; quantify delta in temp rise rate.
  • Review any tire-warm-up procedures (intentional brake brushing), especially after SC/VSC, and quantify heat impact under “heat hazard” conditions. (Reuters)

Controlled Tests (factory & rig)

• Dyno/flow bench: Recreate Singapore airspeeds and stop profiles on the brake dyno. Vary inlet blanking and disc/pad sets; reproduce temp rise and decay curves.
• CFD/thermal: Re-run duct and wheel-end CFD at low-speed, high-temp boundary conditions; include dirty-air yaw angles and blockage sensitivity (simulate partial inlet occlusion).
• Pad drag checks: Measure residual drag hot vs. cold; inspect piston seal behavior and knock-back compensation maps.

Quick Mitigations (ready for next hot/street race)

• Open the cooling: Larger inlet, less blanking, or revised internal guide vanes; consider higher-hole-count disc set for street circuits. (brembo.com)
• Heat shielding: Add/upgrade caliper and hub shields; reflective barriers to protect fluid and seals (keep calipers well below disc temps). (brembo.com)
• Spec swap: Use pad/disc combination with better high-temp wear resistance for low-ram-air tracks. (brembo.com)
• Ops playbook: Pre-define traffic management (avoid long dirty-air trains when possible), SC restart procedures that minimize brake brushing, and lift-and-coast windows to pull temps back under heat-hazard conditions. (Reuters)

What This Probably Wasn’t

• Pure “carbon is fragile” issue: Carbon-carbon is designed for these temps; problems arise when airflow, spec, or operations push it outside its window (then wear accelerates and dust rises). (F1 Technical)
• A universal field failure: Other teams coped, which points to Ferrari-specific cooling/spec/ops choices rather than an F1-wide limitation. (Race reports singled out Ferrari’s brake struggles.) (Reuters)

One-Page Ask (actions for leadership)

1. Approve post-race teardown with full debris audit and photo logging. (High likelihood/low effort.) (ESPN.com)
2. Green-light CFD + rig program targeted at Singapore-class tracks (Baku/Jeddah as comparables), including dirty-air sensitivity. (brembo.com)
3. Authorize alternative disc/pad set and duct variant for hot street events before the next one. (brembo.com)
4. Institutionalize a “heat hazard ops pack” (driver procedures + pitwall triggers) for elevated baseline temps. (Reuters)

Appendix: Useful Reference Numbers (for non-engineers)

• Disc temp reality: Peaks near ~1000 °C on big stops; keep within a tight window for performance & wear. (F1 Technical)
• Caliper sanity: Needs to stay far below disc temps; design ensures calipers don’t run anywhere near disc temperatures. (brembo.com)
• Singapore context: First FIA “heat hazard” race increased baseline thermal stress. (Reuters)

If you’d like, I can turn this into a 1-slide exec brief or a pit-wall checklist tailored to your Ops flow.