Dyer pays price for Alonso title miss
Further to Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali's revelation that he almost quit the position following the Scuderia's failure to land a third F1 world title for Fernando Alonso [see story here], Maranello has confirmed that changes will be apparent in its pit-wall line-up for 2011.
Headlining the reshuffle, Australian Chris Dyer carries the can for the botched strategy call that saw Alonso mirror chief rival Mark Webber's early pit-stop in Abu Dhabi - a move which allowed Sebastian Vettel to claim the crown - and will be moved to another, as yet undefined, position within the Ferrari organisation for the coming season.
Dyer's replacement as head of race track engineering was announced late on Tuesday, with former McLaren man Pat Fry being entrusted with the role just months after making the move from Woking. The Briton already backs up technical director Aldo Costa, and will be joined among the Scuderia's new-look management by the relatively unknown Neil Martin, who heads up the team's new operations research department. The 38-year old former McLaren employee arrives at Maranello from reigning champions Red Bull and will now report directly to Costa.
"Pat Fry will, in addition to his current role, take on the job of head of race track engineering," a Ferrari statement confirmed, "Up until yesterday, this position was held by Chris Dyer and his role within the company will be redefined in the next few days."
Ferrari has already announced that it will unveil its 2011 car at the end of January after ongoing design and production work over the Christmas period allowed the prototype to pass a series of crash tests. The full workforce returned to their posts on Monday as preparations ramped for the start of testing, in Valencia on 1 February.
Before that, the team - complete with Domenicali, Alonso and Felipe Massa - will make its traditional appearance at the 21st Wrooom event that unites Ferrari and MotoGP's Ducati Marlboro team for a series of media appointments in the Italian ski resort of Madonna di Campiglio. Alonso and Massa are expected to enjoy a range of winter sports between press appearances, before closing the week-long event by getting behind the wheel on a frozen lake in the Trentina region on Friday.
