Rumor: Pat Fry to join Williams F1 team

Veteran Formula 1 engineer Pat Fry is leaving Alpine to join Williams as its new chief technical officer, working under James Vowles.

According to Autosport, an announcement is expected today at Spa, and if true, it is another feather in the cap of Vowles.

Fry has previously held positions with the McLaren, Ferrari, Manor Racing, and Benetton teams.

As of 2022, Fry is the Chief Technical Officer for the Alpine F1 Team, but that may be coming to an end starting in early 2024.

He began his F1 career with the then-Benetton team in 1987, working on active suspension and latterly serving as a race engineer.

He joined McLaren in 1993 when Ayrton Senna was still at the Woking outfit.

He worked on active suspension before it was banned, and he again moved into a race engineering role, before latterly becoming chief engineer in alternate years for the 2005, 2007 and 2009 cars.