F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 6y

Charles Leclerc avoids Brendon Hartley crash penalty after brake failure

Formula 1

Sauber's Charles Leclerc avoided a penalty for his heavy collision with Brendon Hartley at the Monaco Grand Prix as it was caused by a brake failure.

Leclerc slammed into the back of the Toro Rosso late in the race as they approached the Nouvelle Chicane, the corner just after Monaco's famous tunnel section. Replays showed a puff of dust from his brakes just before the incident.

Both drivers were summoned to the stewards after the incidents but they were satisfied Leclerc was powerless to prevent it from happening.

The decision read: "The stewards reviewed video evidence and heard from the driver of car 16, Charles Leclerc, the driver of car 28, Brendon Hartley and team representatives and noted that the collision was caused by the failure of the left brake disc of car 16 and not through the fault of either driver."

Leclerc had been aware of a developing issue in the laps prior to the accident -- Hartley had even been told by Toro Rosso moments beforehand that the Sauber driver was struggling.

"Four laps before that I felt like the pedal was getting very long on the brakes, it was very inconsistent," he explained afterwards. "Even putting the same amount of pressure on the pedal, it was decelerating, not decelerating, decelerating, not decelerating.

"It was very difficult to manage, then at one point they just gave up."

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