Chris Dyer
Encyclopedia
Chris Dyer is the former race engineer of Michael Schumacher
and Kimi Räikkönen
at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
and currently an engineer of the team. Born in Bendigo, Victoria
,
outfit, the Tom Walkinshaw
owned Holden Racing Team
in the mid nineties alongside drivers such as Peter Brock
and Craig Lowndes
. In 1997, he switched to Walkinshaw's Formula One team Arrows
, working as Damon Hill
's chief data engineer. In 1998, he stepped up to race engineering, working with drivers such as Jos Verstappen
.
, working as Michael Schumacher
's vehicle engineer, alongside Luca Baldisserri. By the end of 2002, Dyer engineered Schumacher at the tests, and after the championships had been won, at the last three races at Monza, Indianapolis and Suzuka. Dyer then race engineered Michael Schumacher
to his 2003 and 2004 world titles, appearing with the German on the podium after his triumph at the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix. Dyer was quoted saying that 'One of Michael’s strengths is that, apart from driving quickly, he has an understanding of the car and how all the systems work'.
Dyer then took over as Kimi Räikkönen
's race engineer when the Finn moved to Ferrari in 2007. Despite suggestions that the pair didn't always get the most from the package, Räikkönen took the title in 2007 at the final race by a single point over Lewis Hamilton
and Fernando Alonso
. However, after the disappointing results in the 2008 season, Ferrari announced that Dyer would be replaced by Andrea Stella for the 2009 season, with Dyer promoted to chief track engineer, a technical term for a race strategist.
On 4 January 2011 Ferrari announced that Dyer was replaced as head of race track engineering by former McLaren
engineer Pat Fry
. This decision was taken after Dyer made the call to bring Fernando Alonso
into the pits to cover off the Australian Mark Webber
's pit stop in the final 2010 race
, at Abu Dhabi
. This decision was blamed for costing Alonso the drivers title, in favour of Sebastian Vettel
who went on to become champion. Dyer remains with the team.
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
and Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
and currently an engineer of the team. Born in Bendigo, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
,
Early career
Dyer worked with the top V8 SupercarV8 Supercar
V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...
outfit, the Tom Walkinshaw
Tom Walkinshaw
Tom Walkinshaw was a Scottish racing car driver and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing...
owned Holden Racing Team
Holden Racing Team
The Holden Racing Team is a Melbourne based motor racing team. HRT is the most successful V8 Supercar racing team in the history of the category, having won the drivers championship six times, and the series signature race the Bathurst 1000 seven times...
in the mid nineties alongside drivers such as Peter Brock
Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock, AM otherwise known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain" or simply as "Brocky" was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other...
and Craig Lowndes
Craig Lowndes
Craig Lowndes is a multi-championship winning Australian racing driver. He is a three-time V8 Supercar champion and five-time winner of Australia's most famous motor race, the Bathurst 1000...
. In 1997, he switched to Walkinshaw's Formula One team Arrows
Arrows
Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.-Origins :...
, working as Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
's chief data engineer. In 1998, he stepped up to race engineering, working with drivers such as Jos Verstappen
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...
.
Ferrari
For the 2001 season, Dyer moved to Scuderia FerrariScuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
, working as Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
's vehicle engineer, alongside Luca Baldisserri. By the end of 2002, Dyer engineered Schumacher at the tests, and after the championships had been won, at the last three races at Monza, Indianapolis and Suzuka. Dyer then race engineered Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
to his 2003 and 2004 world titles, appearing with the German on the podium after his triumph at the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix. Dyer was quoted saying that 'One of Michael’s strengths is that, apart from driving quickly, he has an understanding of the car and how all the systems work'.
Dyer then took over as Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
's race engineer when the Finn moved to Ferrari in 2007. Despite suggestions that the pair didn't always get the most from the package, Räikkönen took the title in 2007 at the final race by a single point over Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
and Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
. However, after the disappointing results in the 2008 season, Ferrari announced that Dyer would be replaced by Andrea Stella for the 2009 season, with Dyer promoted to chief track engineer, a technical term for a race strategist.
On 4 January 2011 Ferrari announced that Dyer was replaced as head of race track engineering by former McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
engineer Pat Fry
Pat Fry
Pat Fry is an English motor racing engineer, presently the "technical director for the chassis division" of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team .-Early career:Fry was born in Shepperton, Surrey, England...
. This decision was taken after Dyer made the call to bring Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
into the pits to cover off the Australian Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
's pit stop in the final 2010 race
2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 November 2010 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, an island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It was the 19th and last round of the 2010 Formula One season...
, at Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
. This decision was blamed for costing Alonso the drivers title, in favour of Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
who went on to become champion. Dyer remains with the team.
Career
- 1997: ArrowsArrowsArrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.-Origins :...
Data Engineer - 1998-2000: ArrowsArrowsArrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.-Origins :...
Race Engineer - 2001-2002: Scuderia FerrariScuderia FerrariScuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
Vehicle Engineer - 2003-2006: Scuderia FerrariScuderia FerrariScuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
Race Engineer, Michael SchumacherMichael SchumacherMichael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time... - 2007-2008: Scuderia FerrariScuderia FerrariScuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
Race Engineer, Kimi RäikkönenKimi RäikkönenKimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered... - 2009-2011: Scuderia FerrariScuderia FerrariScuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
Chief Track Engineer - 2011-present: Scuderia FerrariScuderia FerrariScuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
team member (unspecified role as of 4 January 2011)