James Allison is set to return to the role of technical director replacing Mike Elliot at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team. Elliot will be taking a step up to the Chief technical officer role. The development was confirmed by Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff in an interview with Motorsport on Friday, April 21.
Allison has vast experience in Motorsport as he has been in the industry for the last 23 years. He has been a part of the winning teams of Ferrari and Renault. He the joined Mercedes in 2017 as the Technical Director and the Technical Officer in 2021. With Allison as the technical director, Mercedes won four straight Drivers’ and five straight Constructors' Championships.
“This was very much driven by Mike Elliott owning the process,” Wolff said. “So, we have reversed the roles. Mike has moved up to CTO, as he has a brilliant switched-on scientific mind. And James Allison has returned to his technical director position, reporting to Mike.”
Further, addressing the switch, Wolf stated Elliot felt that his skillset is more suitable for the development of the organization forward. “Mike came to the conclusion that the way he approaches things, his skill set, is best utilized in developing the organization going forward: from technical capabilities to human capabilities and putting together the structure that can be successful for many years to come”
This change comes after a poor start to the season as once title challengers have fallen third behind RedBull and Aston Martin. Mercedes is currently working on some changes to their car to catch up with the current leaders - Red Bull.
The changes include a raft of updates for its W14 and a revamp of its side pod concept. Mercedes ranks third in the team standings with 56 points, behind Red Bull Racing (123) and Aston Martin (65) heading into the April 30 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
