© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes’ returning technical director James Allison says he hopes that his input “will help from this point forward”, and will not be a “W14/W15 thing”.
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 has assumed the CTO role.
This means Allison will once again be the main person responsible for the development of Mercedes’ car. However, many pundits believe that his influence will not be felt as much on this year’s car as it will be on next year’s.
At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Friday press conference, Allison was asked if it would be fair to say that his influence won’t be felt until the W15?
“I think that sort of question is often asked in one form or another, and it betrays – forgive me – it betrays a certain lack of understanding of how our factories actually work,” James explained.
“I mean, our factories, the grid’s factories. It’s many hundreds of people, a thousand-plus people in some cases. You don’t have one person’s hand on a car, it’s just not how it works at all.
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“Each person puts their shoulder to the wheel, and if the whole place is well set-up and well organised, that wheel turns more and more effectively.
“Even the great Adrian Newey would probably tell you that if you pinned him down hard enough. It is a very big team effort.
“And when I say that Mike and I would be slightly stronger, as a pairing, the other way around, it means that we’re able to put our respective shoulders to that wheel slightly more effectively, and help it turn just a little bit faster.
“I hope that that shoulder that I’m placing on that wheel will help from this point forward, and not a W14/W15 thing.
“But it is just a big team effort, the whole thing,” the Briton concluded.
