Charles Leclerc crashed out of the Monaco Grand Prix after three of the four brakes on his Ferrari failed, causing him to lose control and hit the barriers while running in a podium position late in the race [1]. BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson described the Ferrari brake issue as "borderline dangerous" [1].
Leclerc reported inconsistent braking performance throughout the Monaco weekend, which made judging corner entry extremely difficult. "I’m definitely not knowing what I’m having. At the moment it’s a bit of a discovery whenever I get on the brakes... It’s been extremely inconsistent and I’ve just been struggling massively, whether it was in Montreal or here... Corner to corner it’s not really behaving the same way. It’s just extremely tricky," he said [2].
During qualifying for the Monaco GP on May 28, Leclerc crashed on his final pole position attempt after encountering "dirty air" that caused a loss of rear downforce and control at Turn 12 (Tabac corner), resulting in a collision with the barrier and damage to his right rear wheel. He said, "It was very much on the edge and I think it was very good lap until then... But yes, it was a good lap. I had a little bit of dirty air in that lap where I lost it in Turn 12... It made me lose a little bit of rear-end entry and I touched the wall" [2].
The braking difficulties Leclerc faced in Monaco followed similar problems at the previous race in Canada, indicating a continuing technical challenge with the Ferrari car [2].
Leclerc's Monaco crash happened on May 29, ending what had been a promising race for the Ferrari driver before the brake failure forced his retirement [1].
