Pat Fry | |
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 Fry in 2014 | |
| Born | 17 March 1964 Shepperton, Surrey, UK |
| Nationality |  British |
Pat Fry (born 17 March 1964) is a British motorsports engineer. Primarily working in Formula One, he has previously held positions with the Benetton, McLaren, Ferrari, Manor Racing, and Renault/Alpine teams. As of 2023, Fry is the chief technical officer for Williams Grand Prix Engineering.
Fry was born in Shepperton, Surrey, England. After attempting several engineering courses, he became an apprentice at Thorn EMI in 1981. While at Thorn EMI, he completed a day-release course in electronics at the City of London Polytechnic. He moved onto Thorn's missile programmes, before deciding to leave the company in 1987 to pursue a career in motorsport.
Fry had an interest in building suspension systems for motorbikes in his spare time, and joined the Benetton Formula's research and development department in Witney, Oxfordshire, who at the time were working on active suspension systems. [1] He moved to the test team and then to the team's Godalming research and development department. He returned to the test team in 1991, before being made Martin Brundle's race engineer in 1992.
In 1993, former Benetton colleague Giorgio Ascanelli persuaded Fry to join him at McLaren. His initial position was to work on active suspension systems, and run the McLaren test team; active suspension systems were banned by the sports governing body before the start of the 1994 season and so Fry moved to an engineering position in the race team. [2] After a season as Mika Häkkinen's race engineer in 1995, he returned to the McLaren test team in 1996 despite rumours linking him with a move to Ferrari. [3] He renewed his contract with McLaren in 1997 to become David Coulthard's race engineer, a role he held for four years. He moved to a tactical coordinating role in 2001, overseeing both the team's race cars. [4] [5] In 2002, he was promoted to the role of chief engineer of race development, and was responsible for the MP4-20 ( Autosport 's 2005 Racing Car of the Year), MP4-22 (Autosport's 2007 Racing Car of the Year), and MP4-24 chassis. On 14 May 2010, Fry departed from McLaren. [6]
On 22 June 2010, it was announced that Fry was to join the Ferrari team as assistant technical director from 1 July. [7] On 4 January 2011, Ferrari announced that Fry had replaced Chris Dyer as head of race track engineering while retaining his assistant technical director position under Aldo Costa. [8] The change was made following a tactical error in the final race of the 2010 season, the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which cost Fernando Alonso a chance at the title. [9] On 24 May 2011, Costa was moved to an undefined position within the team and Fry was given the job as director of chassis, with the position of technical director being removed outright. Restructuring of Ferrari management made Fry's position one of three—the others being production director (filled by Corrado Lanzone) and electronics director (filled by Luca Marmorini)--to report directly to team boss Stefano Domenicali, who assumed the duties (if not the title) of technical director. On 23 July 2013, Ferrari announced that Lotus technical director James Allison would take over as chassis technical director as of 1 September; Fry remained with Ferrari as director of engineering (a newly created position) and continue to report directly to Domenicali alongside Allison and chief designer Nikolas Tombazis. [10] Ferrari said Fry would leave the team in a restructuring announced 16 December 2014. [11] [12]
In January 2016, Fry joined Manor Racing as engineering consultant. [13]
On 4 September 2018, McLaren announced Fry would join the team as engineering director in a temporary capacity while awaiting the arrival of full-time technical director James Key from gardening leave at Toro Rosso. Fry led the team in the process of developing the 2019 car, the McLaren MCL34. [14] In July 2019, it was reported Fry had gone on gardening leave at the culmination of his temporary assignment. [15]
On 2 November 2019, the Renault F1 Team announced that Fry would join the team for the 2020 season. [16] Renault F1 Team was rebranded as Alpine F1 Team for the 2021 season. Before the 2022 season, Alpine named Fry as their chief technical officer. He oversaw all technical activities, set performance targets, and identified future technologies for the car. [17]
At the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, it was announced that Fry would be leaving Alpine to join Williams as their chief technical officer, starting in 2024. [18]
On 20 April 2002, Fry married Kate Habershon, a food editor and stylist who had worked in motorsport catering. [19]
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known as a Formula One chassis constructor, the second-oldest active team and the second-most successful Formula One team after Ferrari, having won 186 races, 12 Drivers' Championships, and eight Constructors' Championships. McLaren also has a history in American open wheel racing as both an entrant and a chassis constructor, and has won the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) sports car racing championship.
Renault, a French automobile manufacturer, has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine to Formula One with its EF1 engine. In 1983, Renault began supplying engines to other teams. Although the Renault team had won races, it withdrew at the end of 1985. Renault engines continued to be raced until 1986.
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001. The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In 2002, the team became Renault. The Benetton Formula team was chaired by Alessandro Benetton from 1988 to 1998.
Ross James Brawn is a British Formula One managing director, motor sports and technical director. He is a former motorsport engineer and Formula One team principal, and has worked for a number of Formula One teams. Teams with Brawn in an essential role have won eight constructors' championships and eight drivers' championships in total. Serving as the technical director of the championship-winning Benetton and Ferrari teams, he earned fame as the "mastermind" behind Michael Schumacher's seven world championship titles. He took a sabbatical in 2007 and returned to F1 for the 2008 season as team principal of Honda.
Adrian Martin Newey, is a British Formula One engineer. He was the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team until he resigned in May 2024. On 7 September 2024 he signed with Aston Martin Racing as a shareholder and the Managing Technical Partner. Newey has enjoyed success in both Formula One and IndyCar racing, working as a race engineer, an aerodynamicist, a designer, and a technical director.
Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds is a British motor racing engineer, who is currently the executive engineering consultant for the Andretti Cadillac F1 program. He was the Chief Technical Officer at Williams Grand Prix Engineering from 2013 until 2016, having previously worked at the Benetton, Renault and Virgin Formula One teams. Until May 2024 he was the Chief Technical Officer of Formula One. In September 2009, Symonds was forced to resign from the ING Renault F1 team due to his involvement in race fixing at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. After the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) conducted its own investigation, Symonds and Renault's Managing Director Flavio Briatore were banned indefinitely from any events sanctioned by the FIA, although this ban was later overturned by a French Tribunal de Grande Instance.
Robert Charles Bell is a Formula One engineer and technical director, best known for his work with the Renault Formula One team. He is currently the Executive Director - Technical for the Aston Martin F1 Team.
Nikolas Tombazis is a racing car designer who has worked in Formula One since 1992 for the Benetton, McLaren, and Ferrari teams.
The McLaren MP4-22 is a Formula One racing car that was constructed by the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team to compete in the 2007 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley, Pat Fry, Mike Coughlan and Simon Lacey, with Andy Cowell and Mario Illien designing the bespoke Mercedes-Benz engine. The car was revealed in testing at Circuit de Valencia in Spain on 15 January 2007, and was driven by double World Champion Fernando Alonso and debutant Lewis Hamilton.
Chris Dyer is the former head of vehicle performance group at Renault Sport Formula 1 Team and the former race engineer of Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen at Scuderia Ferrari.
Zakary Challen Brown is an American businessman and former professional racing driver, currently residing in England. He is the chief executive officer of McLaren Racing. Born and raised in California, Brown raced professionally around the world for ten years before developing his skills in motorsport's business and commercial worlds.
The McLaren MP4-30 was a Formula One racing car designed by Tim Goss and Neil Oatley for McLaren to compete in the 2015 Formula One season. The car was driven by 2005 and 2006 World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso, who returned to McLaren eight years after he last drove for the team and 2009 World Champion Jenson Button. Kevin Magnussen, who drove for the team in 2014, temporarily stood in for Alonso after a test accident. Additional testing and development work was carried out by Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne and Oliver Turvey. The car was the first built by McLaren since the MP4/7A—which contested the 1992 season—to be powered by a Honda engine, known as the RA615H, after McLaren ended their twenty-year partnership with Mercedes at the end of the 2014 season.
The McLaren MCL33 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by McLaren to compete in the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by two-time World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, with additional testing and development work carried out by reigning European Formula 3 champion Lando Norris and McLaren's regular test driver Oliver Turvey. The MCL33 is the first car built by McLaren to use a customer Renault engine after the team terminated its engine supply deal with Honda after three years and also first McLaren car to utilize a French-licensed engine manufacturer since the Peugeot-powered McLaren MP4/9 in 1994. It made its competitive debut at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix. The car was launched with an orange and blue livery designed as a tribute to some of the team's earliest cars. Currently Fernando Alonso’s MCL33 is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
The Renault R.S.19 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by the Renault F1 Team to compete during the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Nick Chester, Chris Cooney, Martin Tolliday, Simon Virrill and Pete Machin with Marcin Budkowski overseeing the design and production of the car as executive technical director and Rémi Taffin leading the powertrain design. The car was driven by Nico Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo. The car made its competitive debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.
The Renault R.S.20 is a Formula One car designed by the Renault F1 Team to compete in the 2020 Formula One World Championship.
Nick Chester is a motorsport engineer.
Alpine F1 Team, currently racing as BWT Alpine F1 Team for sponsorship reasons, is the name under which the Enstone-based Formula One team has been competing since the start of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Formerly named Renault F1 Team and owned by the French automotive company Groupe Renault as well as Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, the team was rebranded for 2021 to promote Renault's sports car brand, Alpine, and continues to serve as Renault's works team. The chassis and managerial side of the team is based in Enstone, Oxfordshire, England, and the Renault-branded engine side of the team is based in Viry-Châtillon, a suburb of Paris, France. The team competes with a French licence.
Alan Permane is a British Formula One engineer. He is the former sporting director at the Alpine Formula One team.
Marcin Budkowski is a Polish Formula One engineer. He was notably the executive director of Alpine Formula One team.
David Sanchez is a French Formula One engineer. He has been employed by the Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren Formula One teams. As of 2024, he serves as Executive Technical Director at Alpine.
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