Tom Coronel identifies real issue limiting Charles Leclerc this year amid Ferrari communication. Tom Coronel identifies “serious handicap” still affecting Charles Leclerc.

Tom Coronel believes that Charles Leclerc’s real issue this season is the lack of an experienced and top-level race engineer.

Is Bryan Bozzi the right man alongside Charles Leclerc?

Despite the mid-season switch from Xavi Marcos to Bryan Bozzi, who was promoted to Leclerc’s race engineer starting from the Imola GP, not everyone thinks that the issues between the Monegasque driver and his key point of reference on the pit wall have been fully resolved.

One such person is Tom Coronel, a former single-seater driver and a participant in the Dakar since 2009, who believes that the real problem hindering Leclerc’s on-track performance this season is precisely the lack of an experienced and top-level race engineer.

While Carlos Sainz can rely on a veteran like Riccardo Adami, who held the same role for Sebastian Vettel from 2015 to 2020, the relationship between Leclerc and Xavi was always marked by ups and downs, with several media storms surrounding the Spaniard over the years.

Clearly, since Bryan Bozzi only took over a few months ago, it’s not yet possible to fully judge his performance, although the Monegasque driver has repeatedly praised his precision and timeliness in communication and information handling.

“He won the Monaco GP, his home race, but mainly because you can’t overtake there,” Coronel commented to Formule1.nl, reflecting on Leclerc’s season so far, which saw him shine up until his home race in Monaco, only to falter with the bouncing issues that emerged on the SF-24 from Barcelona onwards.

“The car isn’t performing well, but there are other things happening at Ferrari. He’s missing a race engineer he can rely on, and that’s a serious handicap.”

“With Leclerc, you can see that he doesn’t have the tools to put everything together. In reality, it’s very simple: even in Formula 1, the chain breaks at the weakest link. He himself is not the weakest link, certainly not. And he resists the situation. It’s only logical.”

According to the 52-year-old Dutchman, it should be Charles Leclerc’s responsibility to choose the best team members to work with: “As a driver, you are also largely responsible for the team around you. And you have to motivate these people as well. It’s a team, and you have to grow together, step by step.”

“But in the end, it’s also an important quality for a driver to bring together and motivate the right people around him. To sum up, I don’t think Leclerc is doing poorly, but I expect more from him.” – he concluded.