Charles Leclerc’s accident at the Monaco GP generated an uncomfortable atmosphere between the ferrarista and Brembo, the company that supplies the brakes used by the Italian team in Formula 1. Racing at home, the driver hit the wall at the Antony Noghès curve shortly after the restart in Monte Carlo, on lap 65.
Immediately after the collision, Leclerc avoided taking responsibility for the accident and blamed his Ferrari’s brakes. After the race, Brembo said in a statement that it was “really surprised” by the comments made by the Monegasque.
Just before Leclerc crashed, Lance Stroll collided in the same place and caused a safety car. At the restart, the Ferrari driver didn’t even manage to open another lap and hit the wall with the front of his car, abandoning the race. After the blow, he shouted over the radio that he would not take the blame for the error due to the component’s behavior.
Shortly after Leclerc’s crash, race management decided to interrupt the race with a red flag due to the condition of the asphalt at the entrance to the Antony Noghès curve. In addition to the rubber left by the cars, there was a loose part in the section where Stroll and Leclerc passed and collided.
Even so, the ferrarista did not blame the accident on the track. Irritated by the condition of the brakes since the Canadian GP, Leclerc once again said that the components had been responsible for the crash in Monte Carlo.
The pilot explained that three of the four brakes were not working at the time of the crash. The Monegasque detailed that only the left front operated correctly, while the rear ones did not register any deceleration in the team’s telemetry data.
According to the Monegasque driver, the brake problem worsened as soon as the safety car entered the track. The pilot reported that the system was inconsistent during consecutive laps, but stopped working completely after the race was neutralized, making it impossible to take any action to avoid the collision in the last corner.
In a post-race interview, Leclerc stated that the situation made him appear guilty of a mistake that was not his. The ferrarista highlighted that the failure of the calipers represented a dangerous scenario on the Monte Carlo track.
Supplier responds
Also on Sunday at the Monaco GP, Brembo, Ferrari’s brake supplier, reacted to Leclerc’s comments and expressed “great surprise” at the driver’s criticism, stating that any type of conclusion regarding the nature of the accident at that time would be “premature”. Read the full statement:
“The Brembo Group was really surprised by Charles Leclerc’s statements after the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.
The partnership between Brembo and Scuderia Ferrari has lasted more than 50 years and extends to other brands in the group, including AP Racing clutches and Öhlins shock absorbers, which confirms the strength and scope of this long collaboration.
The company is currently unaware of the causes of the problems faced by Charles Leclerc and therefore considers it premature to draw definitive technical conclusions before analyzing the available data.
In cases like this, it is necessary to examine the telemetry data together with the team’s engineers to accurately determine the source of the incident.
Brembo is a reference in F1 and is present in all cars on the grid through its braking technologies. Over the years, F1 teams have continued to opt for Brembo solutions, recognizing their reliability, innovation and world-class performance.
The group will continue to invest in innovation, reliability and performance, while maintaining its collaboration with Scuderia Ferrari and all other F1 teams.”