F1 | Bozzi: “In Montreal it is essential to have good braking”

In his second race as a track engineer he has already won his first Grand Prix: Bryan Bozzi could not have started his adventure alongside Charles Leclerc better. He debuted in his role at Imola with a podium and then the 35-year-old Roman coach immediately savored the taste of champagne following the Monegasque’s success in the Principality with the SF-24.

It wasn’t a bolt from the blue because Bryan was already part of Leclerc’s work team: during the current season he was promoted from the role of “vehicle driver” to track engineer, immediately finding a perfect understanding with the driver, a sign that the collaboration between the two could not have started better.

In F1 there is no time to bask in victories because the track looms large: in Canada Ferrari will find a different scenario to Imola and Monte Carlo. Let’s go and discover the trip to North America with Bryan.

What are the characteristics of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve? What is needed on the part of the car and what on the part of the driver to go fast in Montreal?
“Montreal is a track with long straights followed by combinations of medium-slow corners. To go fast you need to have good speed on the straight, excellent deceleration when braking and good traction when exiting corners. From the driver’s point of view, it is necessary to have great confidence in the braking phase so as to be able to be precise when entering the corner and then accelerate as soon as possible when exiting. Also on this track, as on all city circuits, it is important to clock up kilometers in free practice to become familiar with the track and its treacherous walls”.

You recently transitioned from the role of Performance Engineer to that of Race Engineer. Can you explain the different roles of Race Engineer, Performance Engineer and Driver Coach that make up the so-called core crew of each driver?
“The Race Engineer is responsible for managing the car entrusted to him during the event. This includes executing the run plan, i.e. the program for each session, and setting up the car. The Race Engineer is also the one who speaks on the radio with the pilot to pass him all the information he needs during the sessions”.

“The Performance Engineer is instead responsible for optimizing various controls on the single-seater, such as the braking torque distribution and the differential. By definition he spends much of his time analyzing the balance of the car and working to ensure that it behaves as expected from the simulations”.

“The work of the Driver Coach is instead focused on improving the driver’s performance. It analyzes videos and telemetries of all the cars on the grid and suggests the fastest lines and driving styles to those in the cockpit. These figures, together with the other engineers, both on the track and in Maranello, try to optimize the car to extract the last thousandths of lap time which in this Formula 1 can make the difference.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Erik Junius

Can you tell us about the path that brought you to Ferrari and what representing the company in motorsport and in particular in Formula 1 means to you?
“I am Italian-Danish by birth and graduated from St George’s British International School of Rome before moving to England to study Mechanical Engineering at Bath University. At that time I participated in a Formula Student project, where different groups of students had the opportunity to design and build a racing car and then various universities from around the world compete against each other as if they were motorsport teams.”

“Thanks to this experience I realized that I really liked racing and I tried to get a place as an intern at Ferrari, the team that everyone wants to work for sooner or later. Things went well and I have been part of the team for many years now. Scuderia track team. Representing this company and the whole of Italy in the highest category of motorsport is a great source of pride for me, even more so having the opportunity to work alongside an exceptional driver like Charles.”