Image by Steven Tee/LAT
Fry in talks with McLaren over return
McLaren is talking with former Ferrari technical director Pat Fry about a possible return to the team, RACER understands.
After six years at Benetton, Fry (pictured in 2016) worked for McLaren from 1993 until 2010, spending time as one of the team’s chief engineers before moving to Maranello. He was initially assistant technical director at Ferrari before finishing his time with the team as director of engineering, leaving the Scuderia in 2014.
Fry last worked in Formula 1 with Manor, having joined as an engineering consultant, but the team closed at the end of the 2016 season, and RACER has learned he has now been in talks with McLaren over a possible return to Woking.
McLaren is undergoing a major overhaul of its technical department after a poor 2018 season to date, with the Renault-powered MCL33 proving less competitive as the year has gone on. Toro Rosso technical director James Key has already been signed to join the team in the same role but a start date has yet to be agreed for the highly-rated Englishman, and Fry would represent a more immediate experienced hire to help with the team’s recovery.
Former racing director Eric Boullier and chief technical officer Tim Goss have already left McLaren as part of the changes this season, with chief engineer Matt Morris also being confirmed as departing at the same time Key’s acquisition was announced.
With Boullier’s resignation came the appointment of Gil de Ferran as sporting director and Andrea Stella as engineering director.
Presented by:
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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