Lewis Hamilton reveals Ferrari brake problems have been “a big issue all year”

Lewis Hamilton says the brake issue that disrupted his second practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has been “a big issue all year”.

Hamilton complained about his brakes throughout FP2 at Imola on Friday.

He voiced his concerns over team radio: “These brakes in mode warm up are horrendous. Mate... it’s not braking”.

In a separate radio message, he complained about the brakes again: “These damn brakes, mate. Ugh, these brakes are a problem.”

Hamilton ended the session 11th fastest, 0.6s off Oscar Piastri’s best time.

Reflecting on his Friday, Hamilton said: “P1 was good. I was really, really happy with the car in P1. It felt like we had made a step forward. I was feeling really positive.

“I literally changed like two of the tiniest things that shouldn’t have had barely any effect at all - the smallest change I’ve probably done this year. I had some brake issues that made a massive difference.

“That was then a fight with that. That’s been quite a big issue all year actually. I’ve never experienced that before so that’s a new thing for me this year.”

Hamilton confirmed that the ongoing brake problems aren’t linked to the fact he’s using Brembo brakes at Ferrari, rather than Carbon Industrie (what he used at Mercedes).

“No. It’s not the transition. It’s the performance,” he clarified.

When asked if it could be fixed, Hamilton replied: “I mean it’s a lottery. We will roll the dice and you put one on and it works, and you put another one and it doesn’t.

“We will see. I hope tomorrow we figure something out. We’re working on it.

Leclerc rules out pole challenge

Charles Leclerc returned to the paddock for practice after missing Thursday’s media day through illness.

After struggling in FP1, Leclerc fared better in the second session, ending the day in sixth.

“The whole FP1 was very tricky. We’ve had some different problems,” Leclerc explained.

“FP2 we put everything together a bit more and it was feeling better on my side. But still, we’re lacking performance. We know. Our weak point at the moment is the qualifying pace and we still need to work on that.”

Leclerc ruled out challenging the McLarens for pole.

“To go and take pole, honestly I don’t think we’ve got it in the car for now but the race pace was strong so that’s positive,” Leclerc added.

“But [it’s] also a track where overtaking is very difficult, so we’ve got to focus on our qualifying pace, that’s where we are putting all our effort into.”