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Ferrari spots new calipers at Red Bull: 'Need to look at'
- GPblog.com
Red Bull Racing's RB19 was unbeatable in 2023. The competition did all they could to get closer, but only marginally. According to Enrico Cardile - technical director of chassis and aerodynamics at Ferrari - part of the secret could possibly lie in the brake calipers.
The RB18 was already very good, but a bit too heavy. The focus with the RB19 was mainly on making the car lighter, and that worked out well. Reportedly partly due to the introduction of a new caliper technology. This reportedly made Red Bull's calipers (and some teams that followed) smaller.
Cardile was asked by Auto, Motor und Sport why Ferrari took a more conservative approach and did not introduce the new technology (yet). Does this have something to do with reliability?
"I don't think the other teams have smaller calipers," Cardile refuted the claim that these new calipers are now smaller than before. "This is a so-called open-source part. If a team changes something, they have to share the CAD design plans with everyone. We can see them. Of course, we also study photos. As far as I can see, the size of the calipers are almost the same on all teams."
New technology saves weight
He continued: "Red Bull has introduced a new technology this year that differs from what Mercedes and we have been using for a number of years. It could be that these new calipers provide a weight advantage. You have to look at that. But whether the part is a millimetre bigger or smaller makes no difference."