Renault F1 Team announced the departure of chassis head Nick Chester in a major re-shuffle of their UK technical base.
Having lost to customer team McLaren in the 2019 F1 season in the battle for fourth, Renault has continued with its re-shuffle plan with the axe now falling on chassis head Chester, who has been now put under gardening leave.
The news comes when Pat Fry is scheduled to join the French manufacturer sometime next year after seeing out the gardening leave from McLaren. Also, Dirk de Beer is to join the Renault aero department with James Rodgers promoted to the Chief Aerodynamicist role.
Upon his departure, Chester said: “I have enjoyed 19 years in a team with great spirit and have worked with an incredibly loyal and talented group of people. I am looking forward to a new challenge and wish everybody in the team all the best for the future.”
At the same time, Cyril Abiteboul added: “Nick has been a key part of Enstone for almost 20 years. His passion for the team has never wavered, despite experiencing some extremely challenging times.
“More recently, his commitment, technical insight and enthusiasm have inspired us to move from the back of the grid to the front of the midfield. We would like to sincerely thank Nick for everything and wish him every success in the next stage of his career.”
Having made some inroads in the engine side, Renault has had issues with co-relation on the chassis side where they fluctuated in performance throughout in 2019. Chester is ending a long-term relation with Enstone having joined there in 2002.
Here’s the details of Pat Fry joining Renault