Ferrari explains brake issues that caused Lewis Hamilton’s Madrid F1 retirement

Ferrari has explained the brake issues that caused Lewis Hamilton to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix. 

Hamilton began to face brake problems after being handed third-place back by Max Verstappen after the Red Bull driver cut the first corner. 

The seven-time world champion started plummeting down the order as the issue worsened, before he was called into the pits to retire after just seven laps.

It marked Hamilton’s first DNF in 10 months and ended his impressive run of finishing every racing lap during the 2026 season prior to Madrid. 

With almost all of the 22 corners at the Madring lined with walls, Ferrari did not want Hamilton to take unnecessary risks by trying to stay out.

“The peal was long. We tried to fix it from the pit wall and then it happened again a couple of corners later,” Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said. 

"Staying on track made no sense in a crazy race. We didn't want to take any risk.”

Hamilton said he was “lucky to make it round” to the garage after suffering the brake failure. 

"It was really unexpected," Hamilton explained. "I was braking for Turn 5 on the first lap and the car was stopping normally. 

“Then the pedal took a step, and I ended up carrying loads of speed into the corner because it didn't stop as well. And then it came back fine in the next corner, and I thought we'd be fine.

"And then all of a sudden the pedal just went fully to the end, so I was lucky to make it round.”

Hamilton believes Ferrari had a car to challenge for victory at the Spanish Grand Prix after making a strong start to the race. 

"I think the team’s done an amazing job, so I'm sad for them today that they couldn't get max points,” he added. “I think we had the car to fight for a win today, and unfortunately it just didn't work out."

While Vasseur agreed Ferrari’s performance was encouraging, the Frenchman reckons third place was probably the best result on the cards. 

"When you see the pace of Charles, you can imagine that we had the pace to fight with everybody," he said. “It's more a matter of track position. Honestly, it was mega difficult to overtake today.

"I'm more focused on my cars, but I don't know who overtook during the race. I think that in this situation it's just about track position. To fight is not the word, it's more a matter of position."