Charles Leclerc turns to Hamilton’s brake specification after Monaco nightmare

Charles Leclerc will trial a technical direction already used by Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton at this weekend’s Formula 1 Barcelona Grand Prix, as the team looks to move on from the brake issue that ended his Monaco race.

Leclerc rejects blame after brake failure

Leclerc was emphatic in his post-race assessment, insisting the crash was not a driver error.

"The front left was working well, the front right was half working, and the two rear brakes were not working at all. And when I say at all, it's that on data, there's no deceleration at all. It's like the calipers were not even in the car."

Leclerc later described the episode as a "nightmare", underlining the scale of the frustration after a race that had him positioned for a strong result before the failure struck.

Ferrari had already identified a possible route forward: moving Leclerc towards the same brake configuration used on Hamilton’s car. For more detail on the immediate background to the switch, read our analysis of Leclerc adopting Hamilton’s brake spec from the Spanish GP.

Carbon Industrie trial begins in FP1

Hamilton has been running Carbon Industrie brake discs and pads, while Leclerc had been using a Brembo configuration that he has reportedly struggled with for some time.

For Barcelona, Leclerc will test the Carbon Industrie set-up in FP1 before deciding whether to continue with it for the rest of the weekend. The decision is not being framed as a case of one supplier being definitively superior to the other. Instead, it comes down to driver preference, with some drivers committed to Brembo and others more comfortable with Carbon Industrie.

That makes the opening practice run a significant moment in Leclerc’s weekend. It is not simply a component trial; it is a potential reset after a damaging Monaco retirement and a difficult recent run.

A crucial Barcelona response

Leclerc arrives in Spain without a podium since the Japanese Grand Prix in March, a sequence that has contributed to him slipping to fourth in the championship.

Hamilton, by contrast, has moved ahead after consecutive runner-up finishes during a rejuvenated 2026 campaign. Against that backdrop, Leclerc’s brake trial in Barcelona carries competitive weight as well as technical relevance. Ferrari needs certainty, and Leclerc needs confidence in a car that let him down at the worst possible moment in Monaco.