The Monaco Grand Prix was brought to an abrupt standstill with only a handful of laps left due to fears that sections of the circuit were ‘breaking up’. This followed Charles Leclerc’s late-race collision in circumstances that Sky Sports co-commentator Martin Brundle labelled as being “highly unusual”.
Leclerc was poised for a podium position in his home race but everything fell apart with merely five laps remaining as he ploughed the nose of his Ferrari into the barrier at the final corner. The race was initially controlled by the safety car, though race control soon opted to red-flag the Grand Prix.
And it rapidly became apparent that a significant problem was developing. Footage revealed that Leclerc had driven over what appeared to be a fresh pothole that had emerged on the track at that particular section. Several laps beforehand, Lance Stroll had crashed his Aston Martin in the identical location and replays likewise showed that he had travelled over the pothole.
It was evidently presenting a hazard to drivers with fragments of asphalt breaking away from the surface and adhering to tyres as vehicles passed over it. Following the race suspension, an FIA spokesperson confirmed to Mirror Sport that the red flag was “for inspection of track break-up at turn 19”.
Race director Rui Marques made his way down to the corner in question to inspect the track conditions first-hand. Meanwhile, a team of marshals, equipped with sweeping brushes, worked to clear the small chunks of loose asphalt from the racing line, as FIA officials deliberated over their options to get the race back underway.
Reflecting on what happened, though, Leclerc made it clear that he was less concerned about the track than he was about his brakes as he launched into an impassioned rant about the issues he had been dealing with throughout the race which, ultimately, he feels led to his crash. He said: “It was the brakes. It doesn’t help to have the asphalt coming off, but the data speaks for itself.
“I don’t know how much I can go into detail. It’s extremely frustrating. I think I’ve always been very honest and no matter how many mistake I make, I hate to look at myself in the mirror and see myself making excuses when I do a mistake, so that’s why I’m always bluntly honest when I’m in front of cameras, but I’m not going to take any of the blame today.
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“The amount… It’s not even braking – I touched the brakes and there’s just something with those front brakes, it just braked a lot more than I wanted and the rears, there was no deceleration. It was like I had no rear brakes at all. That’s what I’m dealing with for two races now.
“We’ve had some differences of brakes between cars, and I don’t think it’s been a disadvantage for me at all, but here and in Montreal, with cold tyre temperatures, inconsistency and the tyres being a lot more sensitive because you’re on the limit of those tyres, it has just been an absolute nightmare. And I’m weighing my words. I don’t have many words. Today I look like an idiot, and when you look like an idiot for a mistake of yours, it’s fine, but it’s borderline dangerous.”