Alpine have confirmed two key promotions ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 season, with the French team making organisational changes in a bid to continue their upward momentum. Pat Fry, who has been the team's Chassis Technical Director since joining in early 2020, has been promoted to become Alpine's Chief Technical Officer. Matt Harman will take over as Technical Director – he had been Engineering Director since arriving at Enstone from Mercedes in 2018. The new structure is a refresh of the company's organisational hierarchy, with Groupe Renault CEO Luca de Meo and Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi initiating the changes in November 2021 as part of their mission to elevate Alpine to championship contention over the next three years. The changes come just weeks after Alpine announced the departure of Executive Director Marcin Budkowski , and Non-Executive Director Alain Prost. The four-time F1 Champion was particularly critical of the nature of his departure from the team .
"We are considerably strengthening the Alpine team"
Fry will take over the handling of all technical activities for Alpine, assuming responsibility for the performance of the A522, defining the technical competencies and requirements, and developing the long-term strategy for the team's engineering departments. Harman will assume responsibility for delivering performance and further speed to the A522 on the race-track, as well as structuring the technical organisation and overseeing the chassis and power unit integrations. "We are considerably strengthening Alpine F1 Team by having Pat and Matt at the helm of engineering in Enstone," said Rossi of the new appointments. "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."
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