© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
George Russell says James Allison and Mike Elliott’s position switch is “really good news” because now Mercedes has “both of them full-time”.
Last week it was revealed that Mercedes decided to return the team’s Chief Technical Officer James Allison to his previous position of Technical Director, while current TD Mike Elliot will assume the CTO role.
Back in 2021 Allison has 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.
In this role Allison worked only three days per week, but now the Briton will return to full-time action as the man responsible for the development of Mercedes’ car.
Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, George Russell was asked to give his comments on the switch.
“I think it’s really good news, to be honest,” the Briton said.
“Because, obviously, Mike was the technical director and James was overseeing a few different projects. And now, effectively, we’ve got both of them full-time,” he told Sky F1.
“Mike is one of, if not the most, intelligent blokes I’ve ever come across in my life. But I think placing him in this new role will really put him in his element.
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“When it comes to a team sport, not just drivers, but managing 2000 people or talking about a football team, you need to get your best players in the right positions to get the overall team result.
“Effectively, that’s what this change has been so I think, in both regards, we’ve probably put both where they belong.”
Russell added that the changes being made are not aimed at holding anybody responsible for Mercedes’ dip in performance.
“It is absolutely teamwork. There are a number of people who contribute towards the overall decisions and feed back into the rest of the factory on the direction that we take.
“And James was involved in some of those conversations and decisions in the past.
“But it’s how the game goes, this was a team decision. Obviously, Lewis was saying you win and lose together and that’s truly how it is.
“There’s never one person accountable for any success or any failure, it is always the team,” Russell concluded.
