Alpine announces new technical structure

Alpine has revamped its Formula One team’s technical department as part of a planned winter makeover.

Laurent Rossi, the CEO of the Enstone-based team, has been assessing changes to the organization ahead of the 2022 campaign, as the team looks to make adjustments to assist it accelerate its rise up the grid.

Alpine’s technical director, Pat Fry, who has previously held senior positions at McLaren and Ferrari, is being promoted to chief technical officer (CTO) as Matt Harman was selected to take over the technical director role.

Alpine will now have Fry heading up all technical activities, including setting the performance target of the car, identifying the team’s strengths, and identifying areas for improvement in the future.

Harman, who formerly served as engineering director, will be responsible for delivering automobile performance as well as organizing the technical organization beneath him.

He will be able to further deepen the integration of the Renault power unit inside the Alpine chassis, having previously worked at Mercedes as its head of powertrain and gearbox design from 2011 to 2018.

“We are considerably strengthening Alpine F1 Team by having Pat and Matt at the helm of engineering in Enstone,” Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi said.

“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.”

Otmar Szafnauer has been strongly linked to the position of team principal, but there have been some technical tweaks which have yet to be confirmed.