Ferrari replaces Leclerc’s race engineer ahead of Imola GP
Ferrari has announced a key personnel change within Charles Leclerc's engineering crew, with Xavi Marcos stepping away from his race engineer role ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Personnel reshuffle at Ferrari
In a statement released on Thursday, Ferrari confirmed that Xavi Marcos, who has served as Charles Leclerc's race engineer since the Monegasque driver joined the Scuderia in 2019, will be moved to "other important company programmes" effective next Monday, May 13th.
The change comes in the lead-up to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
Marcos' tenure and recent incidents
Marcos took over race engineering duties for Leclerc after previously working as a factory-based engineer when Carlo Santi served as Kimi Raikkonen's race engineer in 2018.
However, his tenure with Leclerc has been marked by several heated exchanges over team radio, often stemming from Strategy disagreements during Ferrari's title challenge in 2022.
At the 2023 United States GP, Leclerc revealed his frustration, admitting to "punching [his] steering wheel and helmet" after a misunderstanding with Marcos over track limits during qualifying.
More recently, at the 2024 Chinese GP, an odd dialogue occurred when Marcos asked Leclerc to revert to his "original line" through Turns 7 and 8, leaving the driver perplexed.
New race engineer for Leclerc
Stepping into the race engineer role for Leclerc will be Bryan Bozzi, a 10-year veteran at Ferrari who has been serving as the driver's performance engineer.
Bozzi's promotion comes as the team prepares for the upcoming Emilia Romagna GP at Imola.
Hamilton's future engineer undecided
With Lewis Hamilton set to join Ferrari from Mercedes in 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz, questions remain about the race engineer plans for the seven-time world champion.
Riccardo Adami continued in his role when Sainz joined in 2021, but speculation suggests Hamilton could bring his long-standing Mercedes race engineer, Peter Bonnington, pending negotiations between the two teams.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff stated in February that
"this is a discussion which everyone needs to have in the months to come,"
addressing the possibility of Bonnington's move to Ferrari.
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