Mercedes Formula 1 team have announced that James Allison will move into a new chief technical officer role, with Mike Elliott replacing him as technical director.
Coming into effect from July 2021, Allison will take a step back from day-to-day management of F1 technical operations, a role that he has fulfilled since 2017. Instead, the former Ferrari man will turn his focus to helping the team “meet the strategic challenges of the sport’s next era”.
Elliott, who joined Mercedes in 2012 as the head of aerodynamics, will replace Allison as technical director. The former McLaren and Renault engineer has been the Mercedes technology director since 2017.
“Since joining Mercedes in 2017, James has been an exceptional technical leader for our team, and he has made an enormous contribution to our performance,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said following the announcement. “He combines huge passion and determination with detailed expertise and exceptional moral character.
“We have known for a while that his time as Technical Director would be coming to an end this year and I am delighted that we have been able to shape this new role to keep him within our motorsport family; he will be an important sparring partner for me in the next years and I know that we still have much to achieve together.
“We often say that the organisation is a dynamic organism, and that we need to adapt continuously if we want to truly thrive. Effective succession planning has been a strength of our team, so I am delighted to announce Mike in his new role as technical director. We first met at the beginning of 2013 when I joined the team and have spent many hours talking about the team and its evolution since then. Mike has developed from our head of aerodynamics to now being ready to take the step up to become technical director. Together with an exceptional group of senior technical leaders, this puts us in the best possible position for the sport’s next era.”
“I firmly believe that people have a shelf life in senior roles in this sport, and I have chosen to step away from my role as technical director in order to pass on the baton at the right time for the organisation and myself, “Allison added.
“I have enjoyed four and a half wonderful years as technical director, and it has been a special privilege to lead the technical effort of the team in that time. It is a great pleasure to be succeeded by Mike, an exceptional engineer in a tremendously strong group of senior leaders in the team. We will benefit from the freshness that he will bring to the role – and I hope I can continue to make a useful contribution across a new sphere of activity in my role as CTO, with a focus on increasing our capability across the board and supporting Toto with the major strategic challenges we face in the near future.”
Elliott was primarily focused on aerodynamics until moving onto the race team three years ago.
In the past two years he has focused on the effect of aerodynamics on vehicle handling, which the team said has given him “rounded understanding of car performance”.
“It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work for James earlier in my career at Renault, and for the past four years at Mercedes,” he said.
“His track record in the sport speaks for itself, and he has been a fantastic team-mate and leader for me during that time. They are big shoes to fill and I am delighted that we will be able to call on his expertise in his new role as CTO. On a personal level, it is an amazing opportunity to become Technical Director of a team like Mercedes, and I must thank Toto and our company for trusting me to make the step up to this new role. It is an incredible privilege to be part of this team and I know that the leadership strength at every level through the company will be vital to our future success. I can’t wait to get started and to tackle the many exciting technical challenges ahead of us in the next months and years.”