Charles Leclerc’s victory at Silverstone also sparked a small technical mystery surrounding his Ferrari. Following his triumph in the 2026 Formula 1 British Grand Prix, rumors began circulating that the Monegasque driver had reversed course on his braking setup, allegedly returning to a “full Brembo” system after switching to Carbon Industrie discs and pads—the same specification used by teammate Lewis Hamilton—from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards.
At the moment, however, there is no evidence to support that theory. In fact, everything currently points in the opposite direction. According to information gathered by Fanpage.it, there have been no indications that the 28-year-old from Monte Carlo abandoned the braking configuration he adopted from the Barcelona weekend onward.
Charles Leclerc did not go back on Ferrari’s brake setup
Charles Leclerc’s resurgence at Silverstone therefore does not appear to be linked to a return to his previous brake configuration. Instead, it seems to have been the result of a much broader effort to reshape the Ferrari SF-26 following the Sprint Race. That was the moment when the Monegasque driver’s weekend truly changed.
After a difficult Sprint, Charles Leclerc and his side of the Ferrari garage decided to make significant changes to the way the car behaved. This was far more than a minor setup adjustment—it represented a completely different approach aimed at bringing the SF-26 back into an operating window that better suited his natural driving style. Charles Leclerc essentially had two options: either adapt completely to a car that did not feel instinctive to drive, or modify the way the car responded so he could drive it the way he knows best.
He chose the second option. The results were immediate: a front-row start in qualifying, renewed confidence behind the wheel, and ultimately victory in the race. The real issue, therefore, was never simply “which brakes Charles Leclerc was using,” but rather how the braking system, power delivery, balance, differential settings, and energy management all worked together within the Ferrari SF-26.
The real Silverstone breakthrough for the Ferrari SF-26
At Silverstone, the Monegasque above all rediscovered a Ferrari that was far more predictable on corner entry and exit. That allowed him to return to his natural driving style—aggressive, precise, and capable of carrying impressive speed into the corners without constantly having to chase the car through a series of corrections.
The work carried out after the Sprint focused primarily on widening and optimizing the operating window of the Ferrari SF-26. Charles Leclerc and his engineers concentrated on the parameters that can be adjusted together with the driver, including the differential, power delivery, brake balance, and the distribution of electrical energy during corner exit. The objective was to make the car less nervous when getting back on the throttle, preventing excessive rear-end sliding that forced him into sudden steering corrections just to stay on the racing line.
Under the 2026 Formula 1 regulations, this detail is even more critical. If the car is unstable on corner exit, the driver not only loses traction but also sacrifices efficiency in the way electrical energy is deployed. What Charles Leclerc achieved was therefore much more than a conventional setup tweak—it was a genuine change of philosophy, as he himself described it during his television interviews. The goal was to adapt the car to his driving style, rather than forcing the driver to adapt to the car.
The false mystery surrounding the brakes most likely originated from this dramatic improvement in performance. Whenever a driver suddenly becomes much more competitive, attention immediately turns to the possibility that a single technical component made the difference. In Charles Leclerc’s case, however, the breakthrough appears to have been the result of a far more complex process. It was not the replacement of one specific part, but rather the team’s ability to transform the overall configuration of the Ferrari SF-26, unlocking a car that until then had failed to provide him with the confidence and sensations he needed to perform at his best.
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