INDYCAR: Drivers pleased with brake vendor change

By far the most criticized component on the sped Dallara DW12 chassis since its introduction in 2012, the wholesale move to PFC was met with many smiles in the paddock on Friday.

"I was one of the guys who did the blind testing of different brake packages at Road America," Graham Rahal told RACER. "I did about 500 miles altogether, and the PFC's were the best by far. They're just so much more consistent. One of the issues we've had all along with [Brembo] is temperature. If you pit, even for a pit stop, which is over fast, they're like cement when you press the brake pedal for the first time after. I have a lot of hope the PFCs will improve a lot of things."

Team Penske's Will Power is looking forward to evaluating the new PFCs to see if they are indeed better than Brembo.

"I didn't have too many problems with the Brembo brakes; there were differences with them, though, for sure," he said. "I'll be interested to see what the Performance Friction brakes are like. Maybe that's the characteristic of the carbon brakes – it's hard to find consistency?"

"This step is a positive one," added Andretti-Herta Autosport's Alexander Rossi. "It's a continuation of the development in performance for IndyCar, and I think the thing we're looking for is consistency. Hopefully [PFC] can provide that. Inconsistency is one of the complaints many people have had – I'm one of them – and I haven't driven the PFCs yet, but I've heard people were happy with them."

Power's teammate and championship rival Simon Pagenaud shared in the group's enthusiasm, but raised a concern over the series' choice to nominate a single supplier once again.

"I'm happy they have a new partner, but I'd rather see Brembo stay, Performance Friction come along, and maybe more," he said. "I'd like to see that competition open up. For sure there has been a lot of inconsistency since 2012; it's difficult to find brakes that behave the same on all four wheels. Carbon is very difficult with temperature; if you have 10 degrees difference between one rotor and another, it makes driving very hard. Brembo, I believe, did the best they could.

The Frenchman raises a good point – despite the near universal displeasure with Brembo's DW12 brake package, it's worth noting that like every other spec component on the DW12, its brakes were built to help the series achieve an incredibly low sale price to reduce costs for team owners.

An additional complaint that has been registered by teams is the high consumption (and replacement) rate for Brembo's carbon brake discs, which makes PFC's ability to provide greater consistency and increased durability a central point of interest going forward.