We all have two feet and the brake of a race car generally require the use of a foot: so which one is better and why?
- Left foot Trail Braking
- Right foot Heel-Toe
- Left foot increases entry speed
- Right foot easier
Racers having risen through the go-kart ranks and through open wheelers are typically more left foot brakers. They use their right foot to accelarate and their left foot to brake. This is made mandatory in karting where it's just not possible to get the right foot across to the brake, as you would in a road car. It's also important when the vehicle you're driving is low powered, such as a go-kart, because it allows you more time on the thottle and you lose less revs. Left foot braking also allows for trail braking, where you're applying both the brake and the accellerator. The main problem with left foot braking in a high performance vehicle is the level of skill needed. It's an advanced technique. Most every driver is fimiliar with right foot braking, through their experience driving their day to day cars on public roads. This makes right foot braking more natural and easier to regulate pressure and thus brake consistently.
As mentioned, left foot braking allows trail braking, allowing a driver to apply the brakes while turning, decreasing the braking level as the corner speed decreases and corner angle increases. This allows the driver to brake later than their right foot counterparts, and gain a few meters on corner entry.
Left foot braking also means there is no transition from brake to accelarator, where maybe up to half a second maybe lost at each corner. This can make a big difference at tracks like Monaco, where there are many low speed corners. You can also use a more advanced technique known as cadence braking, where the brakes are repitiively applied hard and then softer during the one braking maneouver, in an attempt to reduce the risk of a lock-up and decrease braking distances. This technique is particularly successful in racing games.
Left foot braking can also be used to balance the car in high speed corners, still trail braking, but the purpose here is to lose maybe a 2-4 kph to prevent understeer or running off the track. This is particular useful at tracks with high speed corners such as Spa-Francorchamps or Silverstone. It's important to realise that a car is most stable when under power, so lifting off the accelerator to prevent an off-track moment may infact cause that moment.
The alternative to trail braking is "heel-toe", where as the name suggests, the driver uses his toe or ball of the foot on the brake and his heel to "blip" the throttle. In a clutchless world drivers don't really need to "heel-toe", as this was more brought about be ensuring the gear speed in gearboxes are sychronised during a change, and with the need to depress the clutch with the left foot braking had to be done with the right. In an F1 car, right foot braking is only beneficial when your left foot memory msucle is hardcoded to the clutch pedal. Most real life F1 drivers are staunch supports of left foot braking and simply cannot go as fast using the right foot (also due to needing to apply brake and accelerator simulatenously to balance the car).
Ultimately left foot braking is an advanced technique and as a rookie, you may have more speed right foot braking, even if you don't need to use a clutch. You can even use a combination of the two, as I do, using right foot braking for corners where minimal downforce is required.