Ferrari were alerted to Lewis Hamilton’s brake problem before the Spanish Grand Prix had even started, according to reports from Motorsport’s Italian site.
Hamilton retired from the race at the Madring circuit, ending a finishing streak that had stretched all the way back to last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Many observers believed the issue first emerged during the opening laps, as Hamilton repeatedly reported worsening brake problems over the team radio.
However, the seven-time world champion had already flagged the problem to the Ferrari pitwall before the race began, communicating the concern via his onboard radio.
Ferrari responded quickly, going as far as enlisting a Maranello-based garage at their headquarters to attempt to precisely diagnose the fault remotely.
Engineers tried to deliver a fix through the computer within Hamilton’s SF-26 steering wheel, but those efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Once the problem was fully identified, the decision was made to retire the car, with reports pointing to a component within the hydraulic system that regulates the brake-by-wire system as the likely culprit.
Hamilton dropped down the field on lap six before finally pulling out of the race, marking a significant low point in what has been a difficult recent run of form.
Ferrari have generally shown some of the strongest reliability on the grid this season, making this mechanical failure all the more damaging at a critical stage of the championship.
The retirement has dealt a severe blow to Hamilton’s title hopes, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli having won the Spanish Grand Prix for the eighth time this season.
Hamilton had not scored a podium since the British Grand Prix in July, where he recorded a fourth top-three finish in five races, before his form began to stall.
Prior to the Spanish retirement, he sat just 32 points behind Antonelli, but that gap has now ballooned to 101 points with nine races remaining.
Hamilton himself appeared to accept the situation when speaking to Sky Sports after retiring in Madrid, saying: “Him [Kimi] and Mercedes this year, I think they’ve they’ve done a phenomenal job, and and they deserve it.”