Leclerc retired from his home race after crashing from third position at the final corner in the closing stages, later blaming a recurring brake problem that he said had plagued him across the last two race weekends.
The Ferrari driver described the situation as a “nightmare” and claimed the issue became significantly worse following a late-race Safety Car period.
“I don’t know how much I can go into the details, but… it’s just not acceptable,” Leclerc said after the race.
“The issues I have faced with my brakes have been… it’s not that it’s difficult, it’s that in this particular moment, it’s just impossible.”
Leclerc went on to claim that only one of his four brakes was functioning correctly at the time of the accident and suggested the issue left him powerless to avoid the barriers.
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Brembo, which has supplied Ferrari for more than half a century, subsequently issued a strongly-worded statement in response.
“Brembo Group is really surprised by the statements made by Charles Leclerc after F1’s Monaco Grand Prix,” the statement read.
“The partnership between Brembo and Scuderia Ferrari has continued for more than 50 years and also extends to other brands within the Group, including AP Racing clutches and Öhlins dampers, confirming the strength and breadth of this long-standing collaboration.
“At present, the company does not know the causes of the issues experienced by Charles Leclerc and therefore considers it premature to draw definitive technical conclusions before the available data has been analysed.
“In cases such as this, it is necessary to examine the telemetry data together with the team’s engineers in order to accurately determine the origin of the incident.”
The supplier also defended its reputation within Formula 1, highlighting its presence throughout the grid and the long-standing confidence teams have placed in its products.
“Brembo is a benchmark in Formula 1 and is present on every car on the grid through its braking technologies,” the statement continued.
“Over the years, F1 teams have continued to choose Brembo solutions, recognising their reliability, innovation and world-class performance.
“The group will continue to invest in innovation, reliability and performance, while continuing its collaboration with Scuderia Ferrari and all other Formula 1 teams.”
Leclerc’s frustration had been evident throughout the weekend after struggling with braking confidence across all sessions.
The Monegasque driver said he will look at switching his setup to a similar one to teammate Lewis Hamilton in the meantime as a fix is worked upon.
“The only thing I can say is that we have the solution in-house, and I’ll go to Lewis’s configuration from the next race onwards, which hopefully will be a step,” he said.
Leclerc’s first DNF of the 2026 season drops him to fourth in the drivers’ championship, 81 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli survives late Monaco drama to claim fifth straight win
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