f1316 wrote: ↑12 Jun 2026, 02:37
catent wrote: ↑12 Jun 2026, 00:40
mzso wrote: ↑12 Jun 2026, 00:22
He's complaining about the new specification Brembos (he had in the past two races) that were developed in response to Hamilton criticism, which Hamilton isn't even using.
If this reporting from Hughes is true, it represents pretty significant mismanagement by Ferrari/Vasseur, IMO.
Why is Brembo continuing to develop brake discs to suit/accommodate a driver who is no longer actually using Brembo brake discs?
And it's not as if Hamilton switched to CI temporarily but has suggested he's open to swapping back to Brembo; he's been extremely vocal about his desire to use CI brake components since arriving at Ferrari.
My guess would be that, for commercial reasons, Ferrari want to find a Brembo-produced solution both drivers will use. Fred probably acquiesced to Lewis using CI brakes on the proviso that, if Brembo developed a solution he was happy with, he’d switch back.
The trickier parts to comprehend are: (1) why Leclerc ended up using the Brembo attempt at a CI-style solution - from his comments, it sounded like Lewis didn’t want to and Charles “took one for the team” to see if he could get them to work (2) why he isn’t now just reverting to his pre-Canada Brembos and instead switching to Hamilton’s.
Point '2' is the big one that's hard to comprehend, and leads me to believe that perhaps this situation is more nuanced/complex than it has been presented.
I'm still really curious if the Brembo discs actually changed at all between Miami and Montreal, and if so, what changed and can it be reverted? Or was this issue always present but the conditions at Montreal and Monaco exacerbated it? That's a big piece of the puzzle.
If it really is a matter of thermal management, perhaps Leclerc could use both Brembo and CI discs throughout the season based on track layout/conditions, and select whichever is best suited for that particular weekend? That seems improbable and potentially challenging, but the thought crossed my mind.
I will note, Leclerc appeared very strong under braking at Suzuka, still using the Brembo discs. I remember being impressed at how much later he was braking into the hairpin and diving the apex, finding a ton of time there; he also seemed consistently strong through the Suzuka chicane, which is also a heavy braking zone.
What, if anything, has changed since Suzuka regarding the Brembo discs, or the car configuration and potential downstream effects on the brakes - that's the million-dollar question.
Leclerc has always been regarded as one of the strongest brakers in F1 (Hamilton, too), so he didn't suddenly forget overnight how to brake effectively - clearly something is amiss. Any driver who isn't confident on the brakes is largely useless, but especially someone like Leclerc who finds a lot of time under braking. Once he regains his confidence while braking, I expect he'll seamlessly return to his usual form/pace.