What Pat Fry will have to do in his first few weeks as Williams’ new engineering boss and how much influence he will have on the design of the 2024 Formula One car
“We can’t wait for Pat Fry to join us in a few weeks,” says Williams team boss James Vowles. And this statement comes as no surprise: after all, Williams took a long time to find a suitable successor for Francois-Xavier Demaison, who left the racing team in December 2022. Now the time has come: with Fry, Williams will once again have a technical director from 1 November 2023.
“Then the first thing is to welcome Pat to our team with open arms,” says Vowles. In his first days at Grove, the newcomer to Williams will have to deal with a lot of new impressions and faces: “We have to demonstrate to him what our team is all about, what we stand for. And we’ll show him the whole staff, who work hard on the day-to-day business.”
And time is pressing for Fry’s induction: “There’s not much time from November to February, and then we’re already presenting the new car,” says team boss Vowles. Therefore, Fry probably “can’t contribute too much” to the preparation of next year’s car, because the 2024 Williams is to a large extent already designed and the further development planned.
What Pat Fry can still do in 2023
But that doesn’t mean next year’s Williams won’t have Fry’s signature, Vowles continues. “Pat can obviously bring his knowledge to bear and point out to us details that turn out differently from what he expected.”
In addition, as the new technical director, Fry is expected to attend at least one on-site appointment at a Grand Prix in the 2023 season “so that he can integrate himself into the team and see how the [current] car performs, where the strengths are and where the weaknesses are,” says Vowles.
He adds, “All this happens in a couple of weeks. Formula One is such a fast-moving business that within six weeks you hope to turn the expertise you bring in into real progress. And we need to do that with Pat so we can get some traction before the 2024 season. “
Pat Fry: Over three decades of Formula One experience
Fry is considered a Formula One veteran: he was active in the Grand Prix scene for the first time as early as 1987 and has since held several senior positions with top teams such as Ferrari, McLaren and Renault/Alpine. Fry spent 17 years at McLaren alone, during which time he contributed to three drivers’ world championship titles with Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton, as well as winning the constructors’ championship in 1998.
Fry last worked for Alpine in the 2023 Formula One season. He left the team mid-year as part of an internal restructure and opted to continue his motorsport career with Williams.