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McLaren not worried about Fry joining Ferrari

ESPNF1 Staff
June 23, 2010 « Sauber to drop BMW from its name | »
Pat Fry has left McLaren and joined Ferrari © Sutton Images
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McLaren is not concerned about losing its ex-joint chief engineer Pat Fry to long-time rival Ferrari, or any transfer of knowledge about its 2011 car that could result in.

On Tuesday, Ferrari confirmed Fry was taking up his new role on July 1, just over a month and half since he left his old position. However, McLaren engineering director Paddy Lowe said his team was big enough to cope with the loss of Fry and was not concerned it would give Ferrari a significant advantage.

"Ferrari is a long-time rival of ours and I think he'll do a great job there," Lowe said during the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Phone-In. "It doesn't fill me with a great fear that Pat's going to take all our knowledge over there. The team is wide, we've got great strength across all the different disciplines. In fact single individuals can contribute but they don't bring an across-the-board set of knowledge to another team."

He added that there were also some positives sides to losing a high-profile member of staff.

"Pat won't mind me saying this, that when we have change it's an opportunity for development and growth within the team, which you need to sustain for your long-term development," Lowe said. "It's thrown up some great opportunities for the next generation."

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