03/07/2019
NEWS STORY
McLaren engineering director, Pat Fry is set to leave McLaren, having been placed on gardening leave.
The Briton joined the Woking outfit in September 2018 following a number of high profile departures including technical boss Tim Goss and engineering chief Matt Morris.
Fry, who worked at the Woking outfit between 1993 and 2010, as engineering director, was brought in at a time James Key was tending his own garden, having been lured from Toro Rosso by McLaren.
Fry, who had previously been recruited by Manor as an "engineering consultant" in 2016, began his F1 career in 1987 with Benetton where he was initially an R&D engineer.
Following time as an engineer with the Enstone outfit's test team and race team, in 1993 he moved to McLaren where he was in charge of the Woking outfit's active suspension programme.
Rising to the role of chief engineer, Fry left Woking to join Ferrari as technical director and head of race engineering in 2011.
He left the Maranello team in late 2014, part of the cull that saw various other established names depart as Ferrari sought to turn its fortunes around.
It's understood that Fry asked to leave McLaren, though it is unclear whether this is because he has been approached by a rival team or whether he wishes to return to semi-retirement.
Many are linking Fry with Williams, which clearly needs all the help it can get, having recently confirmed the departure of Paddy Lowe and brought team co-founder Patrick Head out of retirement.
Though he was late to the Woking team in terms of its 2019 contender, which is currently looking set to be best of the rest this season, he subsequently worked on the development of the car with performance director Andrea Stella, and will have been significantly involved in the initial design of the 2020 car, hence the decision to send him into the garden.