James Vowles on the recruitment of Pat Fry: “The journey is worth it.”
Williams continues its recruitment campaign and it is now the renowned engineer Pat Fry who is joining the Grove team. Departing from Alpine, the British engineer wants to contribute to the revival of Williams.
Williams needed a renowned technical director to fill the void. This has now been accomplished with the hiring of engineer Pat Fry. Having previously worked at Benetton, McLaren, Ferrari, Manor, and most recently Renault/Alpine, Fry faces a new challenge at Williams. Already making great strides under the leadership of James Vowles, Fry is expected to benefit the team by promoting the establishment of effective working structures.
Pat Fry, the evidence
Pat Fry is truly an experienced man in Formula 1, and with successes in the teams he has been with. For Williams, it is the right choice that will allow the team to fully start its reconstruction to become a performing team again. James Vowles explains that he is very close to the British engineer and that even before his recruitment, he was already aware of the Williams project. « The first time I spoke to Pat was in January before I officially started with Williams. I made it clear to him that I really wanted to be part of Williams. »
« There are different types of technical directors available to you: there are some who are very good at finding your last 10 milliseconds, there are some who are very good at putting in place structures and systems, and it is more the last category », James Vowles said, emphasizing the need to find a technical director.
Despite working tirelessly at Alpine to restore performance to the French team, Pat Fry was drawn into the Williams team, both by James Vowles and by the intriguing project. This is explained by the Team Principal of Williams: “« He naturally had a journey with Alpine that he wanted to continue, but in fact, in April, he could see the vision of why I had joined Williams and was very much in agreement with it.” »
A journey worth it
But when you are Williams, playing for the bottom positions and not having as much resources as the other teams, it’s difficult to attract renowned engineers. The glorious legacy of the team is not everything, people want to win. However, James Vowles has brought a true revival to Williams’ work and it seems to be bearing fruit.
« When people saw that I left the comfort of Mercedes to go to Williams, and now people have seen Pat at a time when Alpine was in a strong position, it’s quite clear », explained James Vowles. « Once you see two people who are very experienced in the sport for over 20 years, and winning races, and we want to come here, others will now see why the journey is worth it. »
James Vowles will now be able to see a little further into Williams’ future with the arrival of Pat Fry. The Team Principal of the Grove-based team wants to take the team as high as possible and wishes to implement a change. With James Vowles in charge, Williams is preparing to return to the top. The road will certainly be long but not impossible. « It wasn’t in the last few weeks, I’ve wanted to join Williams for a long time, people will understand now that Williams wants a culture of change. »
