Going back to the strategy call, obviously Ferrari thought that Petrov and Rosberg could be overtaken. In that case, it logically follows that Webber would overtake them at some point. I even think this would have actually happened, as Alsonso (and Hamilton) found themselves stuck behind cars behaving similarly to theirs but with higher top speed, while Webber, while looking even worse in top speed, had advantages in corners and braking areas.
So asuming Webber would pass people in front, where was Alonso at the time... right behind Button. Button should be effectively unpassable, and he wouldn't pit, he had to protect Hamilton and force others into strategic mistakes. In many races, Button lost loads of time to Hamilton, so Ferrari thought they were facing a fast Webber and a slow Button... something had to be done! (Waiting for Button to pit first risked Alonso being stranded in fifht with Vettel in first, and in any case, they risked him having both Red Bulls in front of him, after which many interesting things could start to happen).
Of course we all know now that it was the wrong call to make, but I remember being in a chat with a friend at the time, watching the race and the timing screens, and concluding that they had to pit Alonso NOW!
It wasn't such an easy decision, and I doubt it precipitated Dyer's departure, at least not by itself. The news were announced just aster the 1st of January, and hence the timing had more to do with dates in contracts than with anything else.
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