Charles Leclerc blasts Ferrari brake failure after Monaco Grand Prix crash
Charles Leclerc has blamed his Ferrari's brakes for his Monaco GP DNF.
Charles Leclerc has complained that only one of his Ferrari’s four brakes was working properly, leading to his Monaco Grand Prix crash after a Safety Car period.
Leclerc had been fighting for a podium finish when his Monaco Grand Prix curse struck on Sunday, the Monegasque driver crashing out of the race in the closing stages.
Charles Leclerc explains Ferrari brake issue after Monaco crash
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Leclerc’s home race weekend was blighted by brake issues almost from the get-go, with the Ferrari driver twice taking to the run-off area at Mirabeau as he locked up during Friday’s practices.
The problems continued in qualifying, where Leclerc, chasing a fourth Monaco Grand Prix pole position, was only fourth fastest. He complained that his brakes were “extremely inconsistent” and that he was “struggling massively”.
Despite his earlier woes, he was running third in Sunday’s Grand Prix, when the Safety Car came out after Lance Stroll crashed at Turn 19. Ferrari pitted Lewis Hamilton, who was running in second place, ahead of Leclerc, with the two lining up behind race leader Kimi Antonelli as racing resumed on Lap 66.
But heading towards the line to start that lap, Leclerc too binned it at Turn 19.
The eight-time Grand Prix winner wasn’t able to make the corner and went straight into the barrier.
“I’m not even going to take the blame,’ an angry Leclerc told Ferrari on the radio. “These f***ing brakes!”
But while there was some suggestion that a problem with the track breaking up at that corner had contributed to both Stroll and Leclerc’s crashes, the 28-year-old insisted the blame rested solely with his brakes.
“Well, out of the four brakes I had three brakes not working. So, in a Formula One car, it’s never a good thing,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media in Monaco.
“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, on data there’s no deceleration at all. It’s like I don’t know, the calipers were not on the car, so it’s a little bit of an issue.
“The only thing I can say is that we have a solution in-house, and I’ll go to Lewis configuration from next race on, which hopefully will be a step.”
Having kept his car on the track for 65 laps, Leclerc said that the issue with his brakes was compounded during the laps behind the Safety Car as he couldn’t get them working again.
“As long as I was doing consecutive, it was inconsistent, but there was none of those problems, at least to that extent,” he explained.
“The problem was with the Safety Car. As soon as I did the Safety Car, the three brakes stopped working. I could never switch them on again. Nothing was working anymore.
“I tried to do many actions in the car to try and help it. The only solution I had was to not brake in the last corner, but I will have crashed in Turn One. I mean, there’s no way I could have done a lap. There was just no solution.
“We’ll look into it. I don’t know if it was a wear issue. It’s often a problem here. I don’t know what was it.
“I mean, we know where it’s coming from, and as I said, we have the solution, and I’ll have it on my car at the next race.”
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Back in the pit lane after his crash, Leclerc was spotted in deep conversation with Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur and deputy team principal Jerome D’Ambrosio.
Quizzed on whether there was a difference of opinion about the crash, Leclerc replied: “No, no, no, it’s very clear.
“I think Fred and Jerome then saw the data, and I think it’s very clear for everyone. I don’t think there’s any doubt.”
Leclerc’s DNF has dropped him to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, with Lewis Hamilton moving 15 points clear after finishing runner-up to runaway championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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