At the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix, Darren Heath, an F1 Racing photographer, noticed that the rear brakes of the McLarens were glowing red in an acceleration zone of the track. The magazine discovered through investigation that McLaren had installed a second brake pedal, selectable by the driver to act on any one of the rear wheels at the driver's control. This allowed the driver to eliminate understeer and reduce wheelspin when exiting slow corners. This system was entirely legal, but was an innovation, and hence gave McLaren an advantage. While F1 Racing suspected what McLaren were doing, they required proof to publish the story. At the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix the two McLarens retired from the race while in first and second positions. This allowed Heath to take a picture of the footwell of Häkkinen's car and the second brake pedal. The story was run in the November issue of F1 Racing and led to the system being dubbed "brake steer". Ferrari's protestations to the FIA led to the system being banned at the 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix.
- orignally posted by wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment