Brembo Lifts Lid on Extreme Brake Changes for 2026 F1 Era – Coffee Coasters, Not Carbon Discs; Brembo Lifts Lid on F1 2026 Brake Shock – With the Formula One summer shutdown and the teams and drivers taking a break from their media duties, much of the focus of the F1 news cycle has been focused on the huge upcoming regulation changes for 2026. Most teams have completed the design cycle for any final upgrades which are to be added to this year’s racing machines, although some which are focused around mechanical grip and can be carried over to next year are yet to be complete.
Ferrari who have taken a step backwards from the performance their 2024 car had in the final quarter of the season have decided to plough on with further upgrades to the car in an effort to fix the suspension issues which have plagued Hamilton and Leclerc for most of the season. Having closed a gap of some 79 points to McLaren to just 14 over the final six race weekends, the Scuderia decided to build a completely new car design for 2026, despite it being the last year of the current set of car design regulations.
Adrian Newey observed that 2026 is a unique moment in F1 history given the design rules are changing not just for the power unit or the chassis, but for the first time both will be revolutionised at the same time. This has meant the teams have been forced to wait before designing significant elements of the new racing prototypes, with the rear axle and associated components playing a huge part in the harmonisation of power unit and chassis.
Harvesting replacing braking?
Gone will be the significant amount of ground effect the current cars employ to create around half of the downforce, something on the face of it will please Lewis Hamilton. The seven times F1 champion has had a nightmare four seasons since the ground effect cars were introduced in 2022, winning just two races and losing out in his team mate battle on three of the four championship year’s.
Hamilton likes a planted rear end which the ground effect cars don’t deliver for him, his feeling of control is lost when the centre of pressures dives from rear of the car to front under corner entry. The good news for Lewis is that the all new 2026 cars will handle very differently from thos we see competing today.
Yet details are emerging of how the teams are coping with the incremental harvesting the new power units will require, now with 50% of the total bhp output being produced by the hybrid element of the power unit. The design of the rear chassis is completely based on the expectations the teams have been given over how their respective power units will perform and now Brembo reveal one of the most radical changes might be hiding at the back of the car – in the brakes.
Some teams designs already flawed
Brake supplier Brembo, the undisputed kingpin of carbon discs in Formula 1, has revealed just how extreme some of the design requests have been as teams adapt their cars for the 50/50 split between internal combustion and electric power that will define the new era.
Andrea Algeri, Brembo’s F1 customer manager, told The Race that what’s happening on the rear axle is particularly striking. Because the cars will harvest far more energy under braking, the physical brake discs on the rear wheels are shrinking to almost comical sizes.
“We have seen different approaches across the teams,” Algeri explained. “It’s mainly on the rear, because the rear axle design depends on how they design the power unit, the energy recovery, and their strategy. We are a bit blind in this sense.”
Hulkenberg reflects on Red Bull seat that got away
Tiny rear brakes designs
Teams provide Brembo with specific torque and dimension targets, and some of those numbers have raised eyebrows. “We have seen some outliers that will be very clever solutions if they are right,” Algeri said. “Otherwise, they will have to redo the braking system after a few tests or races.”
But the standout revelation is the scale of the downsizing. “On the rear axle, we have seen extreme choices in terms of disc dimension,” he admitted. “They are very small compared to the current ones, both in diameter and thickness. It means they believe that on the rear axle they are basically not braking at all, or only in a few cases.”
For the jury, imagine that for a moment. F1 teams – the pinnacle of motorsport – are preparing cars that rely so heavily on energy recovery that their rear brakes are being shrunk to the point they could double as coffee coasters. Brembo engineers, used to calculating tolerances in millimetres, are now being handed design requests that amount to: “We’d like the bare minimum, please – just enough to pass scrutineering and maybe slow the car if Verstappen sneezes into Turn 1.”
From Wow to How: Mekies’ reveals his first weeks in Red Bull’s hot seat
Farewell to glowing brake discs
If this sounds insane, that’s because it is. Braking in Formula 1 has always been one of the most brutal spectacles of the sport: cars decelerating from 350 km/h to walking pace in less than two seconds, the discs glowing bright orange in protest. Now, it seems we may be heading into an era where the rear end of the car is doing little more than pretending to help while the hybrid systems take on most of the load.
Of course, it might work. The clever engineers at Milton Keynes, Brackley, Maranello and elsewhere might have cracked the code for balancing regeneration with braking. But if they haven’t, the first half of 2026 could look like a demolition derby of understeering cars whose rear brakes are all but ornamental.
Ford much bigger involvement in Red Bull powertrain than intended
Ford admit to a far greater involvement than planned in RBR powertrains programme – When Red Bull Racing first announced its partnership with Ford, many dismissed it as little more than a marketing marriage. Ford badges on the car, some brand visibility, piles of American cash to support the new engine programme but little else. Red Bull Racing had been in discussions with Porsche for some time as the German auto manufacturer had signed up to join Formula One as a future engine supplier.
Yet mission creep developed in the Stuttgart boardrooms as the executives pushed for a deal which would see Porsche take a 50% stake in Red Bull Racing. The then CEO of RBR, Christian Horner was adamant such a deal would detract from the entrepreneurial culture he had built in Milton Keynes – one which was swift and nimble in its capabilities to respond to urgent engineering decisions.
In fact Horner was concerned that the corporate mess that was the Ford owned Jaguar F1 debacle, ironically bought by the energy drinks empire to become Red Bull Racing, would also be the destiny of the merged entities. Hindsight now tells us Horner’s resistance sowed the seeds for his eventual dismissal once the energy drinks mogul, Didi Mateschitz died….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
