Over the last few hours, a video has started circulating on social media that appears to completely clear Charles Leclerc of any responsibility for the dramatic brake-related incident that ended his Monaco Grand Prix. The footage has reignited the debate surrounding Ferrari’s brake problems and has gained even more attention after other drivers were forced to retire for similar reasons during the race weekend.
The Ferrari driver crashed into the barriers shortly after the Safety Car restart that followed Lance Stroll’s accident at the Antony Noghès corner. While many initially assumed that Charles Leclerc had simply made an unusual and costly mistake, fresh evidence now seems to support the Monegasque driver’s explanation that a serious brake failure was behind the incident.
The controversy has also intensified because several other drivers suffered brake-related issues in Monaco, strengthening the argument that the problem may not have been an isolated case. The situation has become even more intriguing following recent revelations that Lewis Hamilton uses brake discs supplied by Carbon Industrie, a detail that provided additional context to the public response issued by Brembo after Charles Leclerc’s complaints.
Video shows Charles Leclerc struggling with brake problems before the crash
Lmaoooooo under the SC, these brakes ahhahahah#F1 pic.twitter.com/rx0o4dIpa0
— CL16 inside 🇲🇨 (@CL16_inside) June 8, 2026
Immediately after the impact, many observers believed Charles Leclerc had committed a surprisingly simple error. It seemed difficult to understand how a driver capable of threading a Formula 1 car between Monaco’s barriers at over 200 km/h could suddenly make such a mistake, especially during a Safety Car restart.
However, after climbing out of the Ferrari SF-26, the Monegasque was visibly furious and offered a detailed explanation of what had happened. The Monegasque driver has been complaining about brake-related issues since the Canadian Grand Prix, and he insisted that the Monaco incident was caused by a major failure rather than driver error.
Speaking after the race, Charles Leclerc explained:
“As long as I was running at a consistent pace, the behaviour was inconsistent, but we had never experienced any of these problems, at least not to this extent. The real issue came during the Safety Car period. As soon as we entered that phase, three of my four brakes stopped working. From that point onward, I was never able to get them back. Nothing worked anymore. I tried several procedures from inside the cockpit to save the situation and reset the system, but nothing helped.”
The video now circulating online appears to support those claims. The footage shows Charles Leclerc arriving at Mirabeau with smoke coming from the wheels, while the brakes seem to react only after he has already applied pressure to the pedal. The Ferrari driver narrowly avoided hitting the barriers on that occasion, suggesting that the problem had already become critical before the final crash.
It is worth noting that Charles Leclerc had already experienced several lock-ups during the weekend, including at Sainte Dévote during the first free practice session, further indicating that brake performance had been problematic throughout the event.
Bearman and Bottas also forced out by brake failures
The case is made even more compelling by the fact that both Oliver Bearman and Valtteri Bottas were also forced to retire from the Monaco Grand Prix because of brake-related problems. The Haas and Cadillac drivers both use Brembo braking systems, adding another layer to the discussion surrounding brake reliability during the weekend.
Charles Leclerc went on to explain why there was effectively no way to continue safely once the issue developed:
“The only remaining option to complete the lap would have been not to brake for the final corner in order to try to recharge the system, but then I would have crashed at the first corner of the next lap. There was no way to complete another lap and there was no solution. Today I was just a passenger. I still do not know whether it was caused by premature wear, which is always a concern in Monaco, but there was definitely a complete failure.”
Ollie had to retire from the race because of brakes problems.
📻 Ollie: « The car is so scary to drive »
Guess who Haas’s brake supplier is?
— CL16 inside 🇲🇨 (@CL16_inside) June 9, 2026
With video evidence appearing to show brake issues before the accident, and with Oliver Bearman and Valtteri Bottas suffering similar failures during the same event, many fans are now reconsidering their initial judgement of Charles Leclerc’s Monaco retirement.
The question remains: does anyone still have doubts that the Ferrari driver was dealing with a genuine brake failure rather than making a costly mistake?
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