Design guru Rory Byrne is back at Ferrari
27 September, 2011
Rory Byrne
Sep.27 (GMM) Rory Byrne is making a return to Formula 1 with Ferrari, according to two authoritative figures, including former team manager Joan Villadelprat, who writes a column in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
“Rory Byrne, the brain behind the great Michael Schumacher era, has decided to return to work with Ferrari’s new (technical) boss Pat Fry,” he wrote.
South African designer Byrne handed over his role to the now-ousted Aldo Costa in 2006, staying as a consultant in recent years before retiring completely.
AS newspaper correspondent Manuel Franco also reported the news about Byrne this week, admitting that Ferrari at present is “determined to deny it”.
“Officially the 2012 car has been designed by Nicholas Tombazis, but Byrne has been there,” Franco insisted.
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They should call the next car the Ferrari RB12 (Rory Byrne, 2012)
If that’s really true…..WELCOME HOME MR RORY BRYNE….I hope you can bring back those glorious year to the team and hopefully the young designer can learn as many as they can while you’re in the team
@ Twiinz Newey was in his early 30′s when he penned the FW14…
These guys not only know the science, but they know the business of F1. They are managers of people and understand the intricacies of the overall packaging of the car. I would bet there are younger people who know the science as well or even better, but they may not have the calm leadership skill of someone like Rory or Adrian. I think getting Rory back is a solid move and I hope that he and Pat Fry can put together a superior Ferrari once again.
@ Butterfly: There’s nothing wrong with the new designers. Its just that ppl like Byrne & Newey are class acts. Take them out & the level drops down from extremely high to very high.
I don’t get it why aren’t new designers as good as the old ones? It would be like saying new physicists aren’t half as good as the old ones, which is rubbish because they’re giving Nobel prizes each year.
Why is this happening to F1 designers?
Geees really says something about the talents of new designers coming through…what r they teaching the noob designers at school? Taking poor old rory out of retirement…
There couldn’t be better news, except for Michael coming back to the Scuderia of course!
I agree they need to get back to the drawing boards and get this MUCH NEEDED work done and defeat Redbull and Mclaren in style. Get that title back Alonso!
This is great because he can interpret the rules properly and tell the design team where to focus their attention. I doubt he’ll be designing any car by himself. Still, it’s exactly what the Scuderia needs.