Alpine’s Pat Fry (pictured) was promoted to chief technical officer and Matt Harman to technical director, the latest appointments in the teams off-season reshuffling. PHOTO: Alpine Racing

BRENDAN LINES February 4, 2022

ALPINE has promoted Pat Fry to the role of chief technical officer and Matt Harman as technical director in its off-season re-shuffle, but the makeup of its three-pronged team leadership group remains unclear.

Fry and Harman are the latest promotions within the Franco-British team, after the razor-sharp gutting of the team’s top brass which included the unceremonious ousting of three-time world champion Alain Prost from an advisory role, plus the parting of executive director Marcin Budkowski.

But another appointment still remains.

In 2021, the team principal role was shared between Budkowski, Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi and racing director Davide Brivio, since the reshuffling began in November, Rossi has reportedly taken over as interim team principal.

Departed Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer has been linked to Alpine, brining with him the former’s title sponsor BWT.

A statement from Alpine said the decision making behind Fry and Harman’s promotions “is part of a new organisation designed to maximise the team’s performance, initiated in November 2021”.

“Their mission is to contribute to developing the car’s performance to achieve the objectives defined by Luca de Meo, CEO of the Renault Group, and Laurent Rossi, Alpine CEO, to fight for the championship within 100 races after Alpine’s arrival into F1,” the statement said.

Rossi said Alpine was “considerably strengthening” the team with its latest promotions which will be based at the team’s Enstone factory.

“Pat is one of the most experienced engineers in Formula 1, while Matt’s drive and expertise will prove critical in extracting the full potential of our race cars, thanks in particular to his unique expertise combining chassis and engine development,” Rossi said.

Fry will oversee all technical activities in Enstone, and will be responsible for setting the performance target of the car.

Harman will oversee chassis technical direction and bring to the team experience in chassis/power unit technical integration, taken from his time at the the team’s Viry base.