Formula 1 cars have a two-pedal set-up. The throttle has about 50mm of travel, while the brake has around 10mm.
In the old days, there was a throttle cable connecting the pedal to the engine, but that was displaced by the fly-by-wire system. This year, fly-by-wire rear brakes have also been introduced as part of the major regulation changes related to the new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 'green' engines.
To understand the brake-by-wire technology, first we need to look at the well-established fly-by-wire throttle technology:
HOW IT WORKS: FLY-BY-WIRE