You may recall that veteran F1 technical man, Pat Fry, worked for McLaren and late last year, he announced that he was leaving the team to join the Renault F1 team. As is the case in many of these technical personnel moves, some mandatory “gardening leave” was engaged and that was supposed to last well into the 2020 season.
However, perhaps a deal was struck between teams that has now allowed Pat to begin work with Renault in February and the uninformed and purely speculative side of me wonders if the deal was for cheap engines for McLaren as Renault are their supplier in 2020. Of course, the pendulum could be the other way round with McLaren having a low appetite for making waves with their engine supplier not eh las year of a contract. All speculation, of course, but interesting nonetheless.
Fry is replacing the 19-year Renault veteran, Nick Chester, who announced his departure form the team last year. We’ve argued for some time now (two seasons) that the team need to look at the top and ask themselves if team boss Cyril Abiteboul is the guy to lead them forward and not backwards as he did last season.
Regardless, if Renault’s new CEO is an F1 fan and wants to invest in the team to be a front runner, having a technical director is going to be important and Pat’s CV is an impressive affair. Could he deliver a winning chassis? Time will tell.
Hat Tip: Autosport
