Glazed brake to blame for Q3 setback – Hamilton

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton said he lost time on his laps during the final part of qualifying due to a problem with one of his front brakes.

Hamilton said the brake had glazed over, which can happen in low temperatures if they become too cool, causing them to lose efficiency.

“I had a glazed front-right or front-left brake so the car was pulling to the left, or to the right,” said Hamilton after qualifying second behind team mate Nico Rosberg.

“There was nothing I could do on the out-laps to try and get rid of that. So I was struggling on the braking, I had to bring the braking point a little bit further back, and I was losing massive amounts, particularly turn one.”

Rosberg came out on top in a rain-affected qualifying session to take his fourth pole position in a row by two-tenths of a second.

“It’s one of the most special tracks of the year so to be in front here is great,” he said. “Not quite as difficult out there as on some other occasions because the conditions were always pretty much intermediate, just varying slightly, so that made it a bit easier today.”

“But still it’s always difficult on this track in the wet so I’m really happy. The car was handling well together with my engineers we really fine-tuned it perfectly in qualifying and really got there in the end so in the end I was really feeling comfortable.”

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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48 comments on “Glazed brake to blame for Q3 setback – Hamilton”

  1. Well as Damonw said he was losing alot of time in slow stuff Nico was mighty in the exit of turn 1. 2 tenths is not really alot isit.

    1. You’re completely right. The Sky side-by-side comparison showed that Hamilton was actually a lot faster through many parts of the track. Rosberg was pulling it back in the slow corners. Regardless, it was Rosberg’s better line in the last two corners got him pole. Not sure how much how much Hamilton’s glazed breaks was responsible for loosing him time in the slow corners though… late breaking is usually his expertise.

      1. (@ryanisjones

        To be honest, I support both drivers, but to me Rosberg was “a little lucky in getting pole”. The comparison in the sky pad showed that Hamilton was ahead until the final exit of the bus stop chicane.. I am just glad that Lewis’ car didn’t brake down today because WE GOT A FIGHT FOR TOMORROW! BRING ON THE SHOWDOWN!!! :P

  2. 3-1 to Ham after first 4 races since then it is like 7 in a row that there should show it is not as bad as it seems. You don’t get that big of a turnaround in qually with a few problems.

  3. Surprised to see Rosberg so happy with his pole position, I thought wet qualifying doesn’t count :-P

    Anyway, got my prediction right this time.

  4. I’m not buying it, notice how Hamilton couldn’t decide which way the car was pulling. Instead of living in denial he needs to sort out his mistakes, P2 is far from the end of the world, that’s why if I were him is fully prepare my car for long run pace.

    1. “I’m not buying it”

      Erm, he said it live before they had done Q3, ‘guys my car is pulling’

    2. Well he ran wide in turn one at the beginning of Q3 and said on the radio something was wrong with his brakes. Why would he make it up?

      1. Running wide happens in these conditions, doesn’t mean he had a problem. If that’s the case why wasn’t he locking up and running wide into the last chicane?,

        1. ” If that’s the case why wasn’t he locking up and running wide into the last chicane?”

          Because he had to brake much earlier, as per his comments………

        2. Why would he make up having a problem? Why would he report a fake problem to the team? I can understand making up a problem to the press (I don’t think he did), but why would he mention it in a radio to the team if he knew it to be his mistake. Look at the previous mistakes Hamilton makes in qualifying. He usually owns up to all of them.

        3. No one said he had a problem, he was just struggling to get both brakes up to temp consistently. So I assume one brake was colder than the other. And to answer your question at the last chicane he braked earlier given that he locked up in stavelot

    3. Errr… I think this is him analyzing his mistakes. I mean a glazed brake happens through failed brake-temp-managing, and he is not denying that, but speaking about it.

    4. @Damonw

      The only issue we saw was brake glazing – in particular on Lewis’ car.

      This is what Paddy Lowe has said after qualifying. To me, it confirms what Lewis has said earlier about brake glazing.

  5. what is a glazed brake?

    1. I don’t think even Lewis knows that. I think he just bottled it in Q3.

      1. it’s probably an issue every driver had suffered during qualifying, but HAM lost to ROS, so he needed to say something…

        1. Ham always cries with excuses when beaten…

    2. Almost sounds like dessert.

      1. @austus Haah, I thought the same thing. :)

      2. I was definitely about to reply with a picture of a donut.

    3. From the internet :)

      Brake pad glazing is caused when the brake pad friction material is overheated.
      This results in crystallized friction material on the pad surface and the brake disc.
      Typical symptoms of glazed brake pads include: Poor stopping performance, vibration or brake judder, and cracks or fissures in the brake pad material.
      Pad glazing is typically caused by operating the brake pads at a temperature above the specified temperature range of the friction material or not properly following the ‘Bedding-in’ instructions for the brake pads. Always follow the manufacturers brake pad bedding-in instructions and use a brake pad that has a temperature range that is sufficient for its intended use.

      1. So the article says they were too cool, but this explanation says they were too hot? And also, could it have been his fault that he didn’t get it to the right temperature or the brake system’s fault?

        1. @hunosci If you could steal Mercedes’ telemetry data and give it to an engineer, they could tell you. Anything else is going to be biased speculation.

          1. @bforth I’m not going to get nitpicky about whether the fault is the system or Hamilton. I’m going to ask why Nico hasn’t had as many brake issues as Hamilton throughout the season?

            And people can say “you can’t blame Hamilton for the problem with the car not being set up to his style!” and I will reply with “then Raikkonen is the best driver and the Ferrari just isn’t designed for him!”

          2. @neiana Fair question and a tough call really. The problem could be that his driving style is too hard on the brakes. Hamilton likes his rear brake bias. That leaves less pressure on the front brakes and could cause the front discs to spin just a little bit more freely resulting in more friction and stress.

            Nico and Lewis also use different brake suppliers, so it could simply be that Nico’s supplier makes more durable brakes. Again, I don’t have the data, nor am I a world class engineer, so take that with a grain of salt.

            What I do know is sometimes one driver has more luck with reliability than their team mate. Nelson Piquet won the 1987 World Championship largely because he had better reliability than Nigel Mansell. It happens.

            Don’t let that take anything away from Rosberg though. He is definitely proving himself a world class driver, and Hamilton has made some costly mistakes this year.

            And, since you brought it up, Kimi is in fact driving a car built for Alonso. The driving styles of those two couldn’t be much more different, so that is a big part of the gap. However, Fernando is more dedicated to his fitness, would kill for a third world championship, and reportedly spends a lot more time at the factory, so that also contributes to the gap. That’s all pretty straightforward.

    4. Glazing is when the brake pad surface ends up coated in crystallised friction material, affecting their stopping ability. It is usually caused when they have not been brought up to temperature properly.

    5. “Glazing is when the brake pad surface ends up coated in crystallised friction material, affecting their stopping ability. It is usually caused when they have not been brought up to temperature properly.”

  6. Sky UK did a side-by-side comparison of the two laps and Hamilton made up the 0.3 or so he lost in turn 1 back up in Eau Rouge and Kemmel such was his aggressiveness. The second mistake was the killer, but Hamilton looked much faster. All this result does is ensure a titanic battle tomorrow!

    1. A titanic battle can only end in cold, wet disappointment.

  7. I’m sure I read that Hamilton was running more wing, if it’s dry tomorrow he’ll be struggling to challenge Rosberg.

    1. Yeah im sure lol. Im sure if Ros had a good first corner like he did Ham would not gain it back just through Eou Rouge with Kemmel straight after if his wing was high. If Ham has more wing as you say Ros should be beating him by alot tommorow, no? Also wouldn’t Ham be better under breakng with more wing aswell.

      1. Well we will see tomorrow won’t we, hopefully the speed traps will reveal all.

        Yeah if it’s dry tomorrow and Rosberg is running less wing he’ll comfortably beat Hamilton.

        1. I’m not too sure it’s as black and white as that, the more wing will allow Lewis to catch up in q2 and get in DRS for the back straight. That draft along with the DRS will give Hamilton more straight line speed.

    2. Hamilton was 8kph faster in the speed trap soo…

  8. Glazed brakes are no help to anybody, now glazed doughnuts on the other hand…

    1. @traverse Yeah well, Lewis could do with a few glazed doughnuts cause he’s hungrier right?

    2. Michael Brown (@)
      23rd August 2014, 18:14

      I’m more of a frosting kind of guy.

  9. ya its not a reliability issue, its just result of not managing brakes properly, like brundle said on Skyf1 when hamilton was little too slow before start of the lap predicted might have brake issues at the first corner due to cold brakes, just another mistake. Even so, in side-by-side comparison they were too close all the way until last corner where rosberg was better and pulled ahead.

  10. I thought glazed braking issue would refer to a driver having his two brakes on different temperatures ( too hot and too cold). That happens in qualifying. It’s not a mechanical gremlin is it?
    Can’t LH accept he was beaten once? Yes he’s quick, very quick, he murdered Kovaleinen and Button, beat ALonso 9-8, beat Rosberg last year, but He’s 4-6 down now and has failed to outqualify his team mate since May.
    Looks to be a good race tomorrow, the Williams and Force India with their straight line speed and Alonso on the Red Bulls. Not to forget the first time NR and LH are on the front row since Canada.

    1. I dont think Lewis suggested it was a mechanical problem.

  11. even if hamiltons excuse is valid, hamilton must realise he was the still not fast enough on his next 2 attempts for pole. Hamilton made a noticeable mistake on final attempt, he let his brakes get cold by slowing down at final chicane too much instead of progressively slowing down a few corners earlier, he then made a mistake into turn one because of that. the initial error might be driver related too, not “glazed brake”, we will never know.

    1. end result is more errors from Hamilton – he is never the ayrton senna he aspires to be, not if Rosberg is always as fast as him and beats him half the time.

  12. Glazed eh?
    Well, I’m glad at least he’s not too bitter about it. :)

    1. It must be difficult for ‘the fastest driver on the grid’ TM, afterall, that’s 7 qualifyings in a row that he’s been behind Rosberg.

  13. “Mmm… gla-a-azed…” :drools:

  14. Always full of excuses that guy !

  15. Jeez you guys are real Richards about him being honest as to the problem. A problem which may have been of his own causing, but I’d rather he talk about the issue than not. Cut him some slack! (coming from an Alonso supporter)

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