Ferrari changes Leclerc engineer from Imola

A Ferrari announced this Thursday that Charles Leclerc will have a new engineer from the next stage of the 2024 season Formula 1O Emilia Romagna GPin Imola: leaves Xavi Marcos and enter Bryan Bozzi.

The news should have a big impact on the Maranello team’s organization chart. According to the announcement, Marcos leaves his role as Leclerc’s engineer to take on other projects within the Italian team.

As the Monegasque’s track engineer, Marcos has an important role within Ferrari, being the driver’s contact with the team during the sessions. The Spaniard has a long history in the sport, having arrived in F1 in 2010 as a performance engineer at HRT.

After the team’s demise, he was hired by Williams, acting as Felipe Massa’s performance engineer. Between 2015 and 2018, Marcos tried his luck in NASCAR, before returning to F1 in 2018 with Ferrari, first as a track engineer and, following Leclerc’s arrival, working directly with the Monegasque.

“Organizational update: Scuderia Ferrari HP announces that, from Monday 13th May, Xavi Marcos will bring his vast experience accumulated as a track engineer in the F1 team to the development of the company’s other important programs.”

Soon after, Ferrari confirmed the entry of Bryan Bozzi into Marcos’s place: “Scuderia Ferrari HP announces that Bozzi, who has worked at the team for ten years, currently as Charles Leclerc’s performance engineer, will take on the role of its performance engineer. race from the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola”.

The move comes after a series of radio clashes between Leclerc and Marcos in recent months – with most revolving around Ferrari’s strategy issues. At last year’s US GP, the driver revealed that he was “punching his steering wheel and helmet” in frustration after hearing a decision from Marcos involving track limits after the lap that gave him pole in Austin.

In fact, Marcos was referring to the fact that Max Verstappen’s lap was deleted due to a track limit violation.

At this year’s Chinese GP, a bizarre mistake in understanding between the pair in the final straight of the race drew attention, with Marcus suggesting that Leclerc should return to using his “original line” on a certain section of the track “for comparison”. This left the pilot shocked. Read the conversation:

Frames: Try the original line at turns 7 and 8 for comparison
Leclerc: What?
Frames: Try the original line in turns 7 and 8
Leclerc: I don’t understand. Horizontal line? What the hell does that mean?
Frames: Original line! As at the beginning of the test
Leclerc: Did you mean original line?
Frames: Original line, yes
Leclerc: What the hell does that mean?
Frames: Oh, forget it, it’s the last lap