Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have chosen to go into action this year with the full braking systems of the well-known Italian brand Brembo. That is what RacingNews365 can confirm from the circuit in Bahrain where the first official free practice has just started. During the test days in Bahrain, both Verstappen and Sergio Perez drove with the Bergamo-based company's so-called 'Hulk' brake discs. 'Hulk' brake discs (short for Happy Until Last Kilometer) should help the Dutchman in the battle for the world title in 2024.
In 2023, the Italian company already supplied Red Bull with the calipers, but this year Verstappen's team has decided to use Brembo brake discs as well. These were still supplied by Carbon Industries last year. Because Red Bull and Verstappen are constantly looking for improvements, they decided to try out Brembo brake discs during the pre-season test days.
They did this after already conducting some tests with the brake discs in 2023. Those test sessions in 2023 gave Verstappen a good feeling, whereupon he and the team decided to try out the brake discs during the test days in Bahrain. Also during the test days, Verstappen felt it was a good fit and the decision was made to race with 'The Hulk' brake discs during the current F1 season.
Technical specialist Paolo Filisetti on brake discs
Filisetti: "At Red Bull they saw during the test days that the Brembo brake discs wear less quickly. That's obviously an advantage and that's one of the reasons Red Bull chose these brake discs. They also seem to see more performance in these brake discs. By the way, this has nothing to do with the weight, because they are comparable to the brake discs they used before. A driver like Verstappen will also have given positive feedback about the feel with this brake disc. After all, he can feel the difference in the sensitivity of a brake. A positive feeling of the driver automatically also makes the driver feel better with the car and thus an overall improvement of the car."
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