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In a shock move, Mercedes’ James Allison and Mike Elliott have switched positions. With this, Allison is once again focusing on car development, as the team’s Technical Director.
Autosport.com revealed earlier today that Mercedes decided to return the team’s Chief Technical Officer James Allison to his previous position of Technical Director, while Mike Elliot will assume the CTO role.
Back in 2021 Allison was moved from his TD role to become the team’s CTO, while Technology Director Mike Elliott got promoted to Allison’s former position.
Allison’s new position meant that he stopped having day-to-day duties when it comes to the design of Mercedes’ F1 cars, while his influence expanded to the team’s applied science division.
He also became INEOS Britannia sailing team’s Chief Technical Officer, as they prepared to challenge for the America’s Cup.
Earlier this year, amid Mercedes’ performance issues, there has been a lot of speculation saying that Allison has been called to take a more hands-on approach, but this has been consistently denied by the team. However, now Allison will again be officially responsible for the development of Mercedes’ car.
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Additionally, it was revealed that while Allison worked only three days per week in his CTO role, Elliott will be committed full time. Autosport also reports that Allison will still be involved in INEOS’s America’s Cup project.
Sky Sports reports that the job swap came about several weeks ago, and confirms that Allison will once again attend race weekends on a more regular basis. The switch was confirmed to have been done at Elliott’s request.
“Mike [Elliott] has led a review of our technical organisation to ensure we have the right structure to deliver sustainable success in the future,” a Mercedes spokesperson told Sky Sports.
“We are focused on building the best racing car, and building the best team to develop that car, with everybody playing to their greatest strengths in the organisation,” the spokesperson concluded.
Mercedes has also changed the job profile of its Chief Designer John Owen, who will now focus fully on car design, while his deputy Giacomo Tortora will become the engineering director, and he will focus on the design office and the organisational development, which includes the cost cap administration.
