I've been biting my tongue up to this moment...
I find a little naive to try to compare braking abilities of drivers. Everything depends on downforce. I'll use this graph (thanks to Reca, made with Bosch LapSim) that shows the lap times for different levels of downforce. There are two curves (for the same car with different engine power):
As you can see, lap times depend on downforce until you reach a minimum lap time. What you see is that once you go over that point, your time increases: you're generating too much drag, the price to pay for downforce. However, it gives you an idea of how dependant is the lap time on the downforce the car generates.
Braking "length" depends primarily on the downforce you have at your disposition during the braking zone.
So, it's no wonder that some drivers seem to have superhuman abilities: they simply have more braking force available, because the car provides them with more downforce.
If you really wish to claim that XXX is better than YYY for braking, I would suggest to go and try to find their braking results in a kart, DTM or similar, not in an F1. However, I find that approach very boring: I dislike the "I love Fangio" threads, but that's me (evidently).
AFAIK, most drivers stomp on the brakes with all their might, and, altough the "brake modulation" exists, I wonder which one gives you better results at the end of the lap.
Many people, used to employ "assisted" brakes, wouldn't belive
how hard are the brakes of an open wheeler (if I have to trust my very limited experience). I once drove an all-drum-brakes car for some years and when it rained you had time to pray a whole "Hail Mary" while the car stopped: it's the same sensation.
Same goes for the throttle: only at tight curves is the throttle handling really important, and only when you need to avoid oversteering on the exit (which depends on the shape of the exit curve).
I cannot find the previous threads on this issue where actual curves for throttle and brake actuation were shown. Sigh. I hope somebody has the time: they exist and are very instructive. I repeat, give me numbers instead of opinions. Opinions are like navels, everybody has one. Here you have two graphs I got (really old) for Schumi vs Rubens telemetry:
Notice that Schumi brakes later than Rubens, but then he's slower on the exit. So much for braking ability: you have to test every particular curve to find if you're doing it well. That's what attracts me more to racing:
it is possible to find the mathematically perfect curve trajectory for one curve. It is not possible (up to this date) to do the same for two curves. Racing is an art and one where you can appreciate the style of any driver, as the resurgence of some drivers this year proves amply.
However, I would love to analyze the sound of engines to find the deceleration-acceleration graph for curve 1 at Shanghai, some curves at Turkey or at Repsol (in Catalunya), curves shaped in such a way that the braking and throttle handling is really important. That, or get the telemetry, whichever is easier. Be my guest, but in the end you have no idea if a driver is better than the rest or if his car simply has more downforce at low speeds. You
could compare that telemetry with trap speeds to try to reach a conclusion.
Well, you know what to do. Now, it's only a matter of doing it. As Ludwig Wittgestein said: "Of what one cannot speak, one must pass over in silence".
