Renault F1 Team confirmed the hiring of Pat Fry in its technical department as he is to join the team following his current obligations.
Post the stories of Renault hiring Fry during the F1 US GP weekend at the Circuit of the Americas by certain medias, the French manufacturer eventually confirmed the news just after the end of the third practice session.
The small note from Renault stated that Fry is join the team to ‘strengthen the technical management team of Enstone following the end of his current contractual obligations’, along with a quote from the outfit’s Executive Director Marcin Budkowski.
Fry is currently serving his gardening leave after working with McLaren for a short period of time, in order to keep the Woking-based team ticking until James Key joined them from Toro Rosso earlier this year to work full-time on the 2020 and 2021 project.
This will be a return of Fry to Enstone for the first time since starting his F1 career with Benetton in 1987. Since then, he has worked with McLaren (twice), Ferrari and Manor in several key roles, where he has helped the teams with his expertise.
“I am delighted to be able to work with Pat again,” said Budkowski. “His arrival is yet another step as we build and improve our team structure. Pat’s experience, talent and determination will be additional assets as we continue our progress.”
The announcement from Renault comes after their Saturday’s release regarding the hiring of ex-Ferrari/Williams Dirk de Beer in their aero department with his deputy to be named soon and promotion James Rodgers to the Chief Aerodynamicist role.
The recent hiring suggests the long-term ideology of Renault in F1, which has come under scanner, following the departure of McLaren as a customer team from 2021 onward and the team’s current results, where it is losing out to the British outfit.
Here’s the detail regarding Renault’s last announcement