After a phenomenal start to the 2022 season, Ferrari lost momentum owing partly to Red Bull’s progress and partly due to their own strategic blunders. After enduring heavy criticism, the team failed to make a course correction in 2023 and suffered the consequences. The current season, however, has come in as a welcome change with the pit wall crew being on point. Team principal Frederic Vasseur has found the reason why.
Speaking with Motorsport-Italy, the Frenchman said, “It’s much easier to have a good strategy when the car has an excellent pace, and vice versa, when a car has a performance deficit, it’s more likely that the strategy will be wrong.”
Fred Vasseur: […] easier to have a good strategy when the car has an excellent pace, and vice versa, when a car has a performance deficit it’s more likely that the strategy will be wrong.
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— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) May 15, 2024
Vasseur’s argument seems valid when looking at Ferrari’s performance so far in 2024. Not only have they bagged a win in the first six races but have also stationed themselves on the podium five times. The Maranello side has established itself as the fastest behind Red Bull, albeit with a growing threat from McLaren.
Fred Vasseur highlighted the improvement in race pace, which in turn has resulted in strategists facing fewer problems. One cannot support a similar claim for Ferrari’s performance in 2023 or 2022.
Back in 2022, Charles Leclerc was one of the favorites to grab pole on almost every track and managed to grab several. However, race pace let him down, resulting in strategists making some bizarre choices to cope.
Apart from improving the race pace this year, the Ferrari management has also made some active steps to avoid the embarrassment they frequently endured not too long ago. One of those steps is changing Charles Leclerc’s race engineer, Xavi Marcos. The move was a necessity to see the Monegasque take the next step and win a Grand Prix.
Can Bryan Bozzi help Charles Leclerc reach new heights?
Bryan Bozzi will take over Xavi Marcos’ duties as Charles Leclerc’s race engineer from the upcoming Emilia Romagna GP. Bozzi got the promotion after an impressive stint as Leclerc’s performance engineer. It is, however, unclear as to what Marcos’ next role would be. He will continue to work with the Maranello outfit, though.
Frederic Vasseur highlighted the significance of the move by revealing the rationale behind it. Speaking with La Repubblica, he said,
“We are in a continuous process of improvement. We wanted to take this step. It was an internal promotion with Bryan who comes from the team. He knows Charles very well and they have a good relationship. He is part of the team’s development as are the others.”
Q: charles will have a new race engineer from this race onwards, bryan bozzi instead of xavi marcos. why this change?
fred vasseur to @repubblica: “because we’re in a continuous process of improvement, we wanted to do this step, it was an internal promotion with bryan who comes… pic.twitter.com/DVhjRn8mn3
— leclerc data (@leclercdata) May 14, 2024
If the duo does share “a good relationship” as Vasseur claims, better results might just be around the corner for Leclerc. That is because the camaraderie between a driver and his race engineer is a necessity.
Lewis Hamilton continues to enjoy it with Peter Bonnington, and so does Max Verstappen with Gianpiero Lambiase. Therefore, it is time the Monegasque enjoyed one as well.
