Why is Charles Leclerc struggling with his Ferrari's brakes?
Leclerc’s Monaco exit triggers Brembo response
Charles Leclerc’s late Monaco Grand Prix crash has escalated into one of Ferrari’s most sensitive technical talking points of the season, after the Monegasque’s post-race remarks drew an unusually firm public response from brake supplier Brembo.
Leclerc hit the barriers at the final corner after the Safety Car restart, shortly after Lance Stroll had crashed at the same location. The Ferrari driver described the situation as "not acceptable" and said what he was dealing with was "just impossible", prompting Brembo to say it was "really surprised" by his comments and that it was "premature to draw definitive technical conclusions before the available data has been analysed".
That public pushback was striking. Suppliers rarely intervene so directly, but Leclerc’s wording appeared to imply an unexpected failure. Early analysis, however, points to nothing obviously broken on the car or in the braking system. The bigger issue appears to be temperature management under F1’s 2026 rules.
Why the brakes went missing
Leclerc’s own explanation was stark. "Out of the four brakes, I had three brakes not working, so in a Formula 1 car it’s never a good thing," he said. "The front left was working well, the front right was half working, and the two rear brakes were not working at all."
The data, he added, showed no deceleration, as if the callipers were not present. But the evidence outlined so far suggests the brakes had not failed mechanically; they had likely fallen too cold behind the Safety Car and were not back in the working window for the restart.
That fits a wider 2026 pattern. Increased energy harvesting means the rear discs are used less to slow the car, generating less heat. With lighter, slower cars putting around 20% less energy through the brakes, the mechanical system can be left exposed when drivers suddenly need full stopping power.
For more on the immediate aftermath of the incident, see our earlier report on Leclerc’s switch to Hamilton’s brake specification.
Ferrari’s next move
Leclerc believes Ferrari already has an in-house answer. "I’ll go to Lewis’s configuration from the next race onwards, which hopefully will be a step," he said.
Ferrari has not explained the exact change, but suggestions point to a possible move toward the brake disc solution Hamilton has used since the Japanese GP. The key point is not quality, but feel and operating characteristics. Brembo’s Andrea Algeri summed it up neatly: "Braking feel is like putting a shoe on your foot. It may not be the best one, but if it fits you, it is better."
The risk for Leclerc is that Monaco’s cold, low-energy conditions may not define the rest of the season. A solution that looks obvious now may still need proving when track demands and temperatures change.
Simone Scanu
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.