He will essentially be on ‘gardening leave’ until the end of 2014, helping with some consulting work for the team’s commercial operations.
In his place will be Toto Wolff, the Austrian motorsport exec who joined the team only in January as a 30 percent shareholder.
Wolff, who remains a shareholder of the Williams F1 team as well, was appointed Director of Motorsport at Mercedes-Benz upon joining.
Fry’s resignation comes just weeks after it was revealed that former McLaren Technical Director Paddy Lowe will be joining the Mercedes AMG squad in 2014, which prompted speculation that current Mercedes AMG Team Principal Ross Brawn may call it quits. Brawn is reported to be already unhappy with the previous appointment of F1 legend Niki Lauda as Chairman of the team and Wolff as a part owner and senior exec.
Mercedes-Benz has been disappointed with the performance of its F1 team, which has managed to rack up just one win during its first three years. This is meant to be one of the main reasons that led to Norbert Haug, former head of motorsport at Mercedes-Benz, having his contract ended after 22 years.
There’s been no reason for why Fry, who has worked with the British-based team under its various owners for the past ten years, is leaving now, two weeks into the 2013 F1 season.
It’s certainly starting to sound like there are too many chefs in Mercedes AMG’s kitchen, though perhaps the new blood, including that of world champion driver Lewis Hamilton, will help it notch up some wins.
