Fernando Alonso’s Plan continues to take steps forward and Alpine has announced a restructuring of its organization chart that grants more stripes to one of the most experienced engineers in Formula 1. This is Pat Fry , who joined the team two years ago and He has been promoted to the position of Chief Technician. For his part, Matt Harman occupies the vacancy as the new Technical Director.
In a fundamental winter for Alpine’s aspirations, with the revolutionary change in regulations that opens an unbeatable door to progress on the grid, the French team has placed itself in the hands of an engineer with 35 years of experience in Formula 1 and experience in powerful projects with Benetton, McLaren and Ferrari .
Pat Fry came to F1 in 1987 from Benetton and six years later he joined McLaren . In the English team he contributed to add 66 victories, three drivers’ titles and a constructors’ title. He progressed through the ranks until he became chief engineer and there he worked for the first time with Fernando Alonso . Both lived together the fateful outcome of the 2007 World Cup, with the Spaniard facing his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen taking advantage of the troubled river to fish for the world title.
Fry left McLaren after 17 years to join Ferrari in 2010, at the same time as Fernando Alonso . At Maranello , the Englishman was chassis director and engineering director, among other positions, but he was unable to get the Spanish driver to win the championship dressed in red. Fry left Ferrari in 2014 and, after spells at Manor and a second spell at McLaren , he joined Renault in 2020.
The plan of the 100 races
“This decision is part of a new organization designed to maximize the performance of the team, launched in November 2021. Its mission is to contribute to developing the performance of the car to achieve the objectives defined by Luca de Meo, CEO of the Renault Group, and Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, to fight for the championship within 100 races of Alpine’s arrival in F1 ,” the team explained in a statement.
Fry will be responsible for making “the key performance-related decisions and will establish the long-term development strategy to maximize performance within the budget limit set by the sporting regulations.” For his part, Harman , who arrived at Alpine in 2018 from Mercedes , “will oversee the technical direction of the chassis and bring to the team his unique experience in the technical integration of the chassis and the power unit”.
Laurent Rossi celebrated these promotions that serve to “significantly strengthen” the team. “ Pat is one of the most experienced engineers in Formula 1 , while Matt’s drive and experience will be instrumental in extracting the full potential of our cars, thanks in particular to his unique experience combining engine and chassis development. “, He said.
