Growing unrest between Charles Leclerc and his race engineer has led to the departure from the role of the latter at Ferrari.
That’s the claim of authoritative Italian media sources, as the Maranello team announced that Leclerc’s race engineer since 2019, Xavi Marcos, is moving to "other important company programs".
Alessandra Retico, a Formula 1 correspondent for La Repubblica newspaper, claims that "more than a few times in recent years, and also in the last race in Miami, Leclerc was not entirely satisfied with his race management".
"It seems there was some nervousness between the two, like when last year in Austin he (Leclerc) punched the steering wheel" following a call from Marcos, who has been at Ferrari for a decade.
"This year in China, there was a misunderstanding between them when Marcos suggested Leclerc go back to his original trajectory in a certain part of the Shanghai track," the journalist added.
"Leclerc reacted with some bewilderment, not understanding what was being asked of him."
And in the pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport, correspondent Salvo Sardina claims "many fans have been criticising certain communication difficulties and his (Marcos’) apparent lack of reactivity in key moments".
As of Imola next weekend, where a key car upgrade is being introduced for Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the former will now be working with new race engineer Bryan Bozzi.
Until Miami, Bozzi was Leclerc’s performance engineer.
The surprise news came on the same day that Ferrari not only tested the Imola upgrade at Fiorano, but also trialled proposed new ’mudguards’ in collaboration with the FIA to help reduce spray in wet conditions.