Charles Leclerc is changing his race engineer at Ferrari with long-term confidante Xavi Simons being replaced ahead of next weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Leclerc has worked with Simons since joining Ferrari in 2019, with the Spaniard the familiar voice over the radio for the Monegasque in the past five seasons, but Simons will now “bring his valuable experience to the development of other important company programmes.”
And Ferrari announced that Leclerc’s current performance engineer, Bryan Bozzi, will replace Marcos from next week at Imola. Bozzi has been at the Scuderia for 10 years and has a wealth of experience in Formula 1.
Leclerc’s relationship with Simons has featured some iconic and frustrating moments in the last few years, with the pair most recently clashing in the final stages of last month’s Chinese Grand Prix.
A misunderstanding over Simons requesting Leclerc to try an “original line” at a section of the Shanghai track resulted in Leclerc sharply responding: “What the hell does that mean?”
Leclerc also made his irritation audible in Saudi Arabia last year when Simons informed him too late about a Lewis Hamilton pit stop during a safety car period.
“Xavi, you need to tell me that before!” Leclerc said. “No but come on!”
Ferrari fans reacted on social media to the news on Thursday with amusement, with many referring to Simons’ go-to line when asked a question by Leclerc: “We are checking…”
One fan said “we are no longer checking!” while another similarly posted: “And just like that, Ferrari were no longer checking.”
Leclerc paid tribute to Simons on social media, saying: “So many years working together, my first pole, my first win as well as my first year in Ferrari was alongside you and you always got the better out of me by pushing so hard no matter the situation we were in.
“Thank you for everything and good luck for your new adventures in the future.”
Leclerc is currently third in the championship standards, 38 points off leader Max Verstappen ahead of F1’s first European race of the season next week.
