Ferrari are set to welcome a new engineer who will become part of Charles Leclerc’s working group: here is who he is and which team he comes from.
The Maranello-based team are continuing to reshape their technical structure ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season, with another arrival designed to compensate for a recent departure. Ferrari are strengthening the group that works directly with Charles Leclerc, and the identity of the new engineer and his previous experience have now emerged.
As seen last week, Guillaume Dezoteux has already joined Ferrari. The French engineer – another addition from across the Alpine border – arrived from Racing Bulls, where he previously held the role of Head of Performance. He is now operational in Maranello as Head of Performance Operations. Dezoteux graduated from the University of Paris in 2006 with a degree in mechanical engineering and immediately began his career in Formula 1 with Toro Rosso, the team that later evolved into today’s RB outfit.
During his time there, Guillaume Dezoteux first worked as a Tyre Performance Engineer before progressing to the role of Head of Vehicle Performance. According to AutoRacer.it, he has taken over from Andrea Landi, the former Ferrari Head of Vehicle Dynamics, who has now moved to Racing Bulls as Deputy Technical Director. However, Ferrari’s internal reshuffle does not stop there, as another key figure is set to leave for Williams.
An Italian engineer joins Charles Leclerc’s team: name and background
Again according to the Italian outlet, Ferrari are close to bringing in Andrea Benisi from Sauber. He will replace Calum MacDonald, who had been working in Maranello since 2016 and most recently served as Senior Driver Performance Engineer. MacDonald has decided to follow Carlos Sainz to Williams, accepting the opportunity to continue working with the Spanish driver after their years together at Ferrari.
Andrea Benisi will become part of the group working alongside Charles Leclerc. The Italian engineer has been with Sauber since 2019 and brings with him a solid background across several categories. He graduated from the University of Bologna and had already crossed paths with Charles Leclerc back in 2017, when the Monegasque driver won the Formula 2 championship.
During that period, Benisi worked at Prema, where he collaborated with Pierre Gasly before also working with the Monegasque and later becoming race engineer for Sean Gelael. He subsequently made the step up to Formula 1, taking on the role of Performance Engineer for Antonio Giovinazzi and later for Valtteri Bottas.
Andrea Benisi then spent two seasons as race engineer for Guanyu Zhou. From October 2024 through last summer, he supported the team remotely from the so-called Remote Garage. His new position at Ferrari will be comparable to that currently held by Carlo Santi within the Scuderia.
Santi is temporarily working alongside Lewis Hamilton during testing duties, before the arrival of Michael Grosjean from McLaren, who is set to become the new race engineer for the #44. Together, these moves underline Ferrari’s intent to reinforce both sides of the garage with experienced personnel as the team prepares for the major regulatory reset of 2026.
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