James Allison has returned to the Mercedes technical director role after less than two years out of the job as the team grapples with its slow start to life under the new regulations.
Allison stepped away from day-to-day management of the technical department and into the strategic and part-time chief technical officer position in 2021, handing the reins to Mike Elliott.
But Mercedes’s eight years of successive constructors titles came to an end with Elliott’s first car in 2022, and the Briton hasn’t been able to turn the team’s struggles around this year.
Watch the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo Sports this Sunday, 30 April, at 9:00pm AEST. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Elliott subsequently instigated an internal review that concluded he and Allison should have their roles switched, and team principal Toto Wolff backed the inquest.
“What Mike’s assessment was, and the introspection is really admirable, is that with James we have a gladiator on the field and the troops are going to go through the fire for him and with him,” Wolff told Autosport.
“And I’m actually very happy that Mike took this decision by himself to put himself in this role, with both him and James coming to this conclusion, as we are having both of them in their genius.”
Wolff said Elliott saw himself more effectively deployed looking at the larger team structure and strategic direction for the technical department rather than with a hands-on role.
“Mike came to the conclusion that the way he approaches things, his skill set, is best utilised in developing the organisation going forward — from technical capabilities to human capabilities and putting together the structure that can be successful for many years to come,” Wolff said.
“It’s about creating a structure that can be sustainably successful going into the next generation. We’re seeing huge changes in the technical developments, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
“And at the same time looking at how is a modern Formula 1 team going to be organised and structured, what kind of innovation can be brought in.
“Mike sees himself very much in his sweet spot there and obviously he’s a super capable engineer, very credible and respected in the organisation. He is going to be a coach and sparring partner for the most senior people.”
Wolff also revealed the technical department has undergone some minor structural changes owing to the cost cap, with John Owen having his role as director of car design split with Giacomo Tortora, who is now engineering director. The change facilitates Owen’s dual role as cost cap administrator, which comes with a considerable extra workload.
The switch at the top of the department comes just three rounds into what is already shaping up to be a disappointing season, at least by the team’s title-winning standards.
Mercedes had been hoping to prove its difficult 2022 campaign to be an aberration based on a calculation error under last year’s new rules.
The team had come up with a striking and innovative design — recognisable for its no-sidepod bodywork but featuring many more differences beneath the surface, particularly on the floor — but it had to be run too low to the ground to be even close to competitive.
It meant both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell struggled with severe bouncing as the stiffly sprung car repeatedly struck the track surface, which also made it difficult and unpredictable to drive.
Hamilton has also talked about the unusually forward cockpit position as being detrimental to his feel for the car’s behaviour.
But the team backed its design, particularly after upgrades late last year appeared to close the gap to Red Bull Racing and facilitated a one-two victory in Brazil, and this year’s car was presented as an evolution rather than featuring wholesale changes.
However, it has since emerged that the design team lost faith in the model sometime during the off-season, when downforce gains became increasingly difficult to find in the wind tunnel. Pre-season testing and the first three races of the season confirmed Mercedes is off the pace.
Spec-changing upgrades are due in the coming months, but a blank-slate car will be built for next season on the watch of technical director Allison, who returns to the post barely 18 months after leaving.
The move is therefore very much aimed at righting the ship for 2024 rather than salvaging the 2023 season, though the team still expects to improve through the year.
DON’T CALL IT A SACKING
It might seem like an unusually reflexive and even ruthless move for a team that has made a great virtue of the no-blame culture that took it to eight consecutive constructors titles and seven drivers championships, particularly given this is the first moment of sustained adversity the team has faced since it started its title run in 2014.
But the German marque is evidently keen not to let that perception stand.
Mercedes reportedly will not issue a press release announcing the change of positions at the top of the technical department, with Wolff instead confirming the news via an interview with Autosport.
The unusual strategy allows the team to present the changes as being run-of-the-mill decisions of day-to-day administration rather than anything more serious.
It also helps keep up team morale more broadly by ensuring the moves aren’t misconstrued as an axing or as punishment for mistakes.
Further to that point, Wolff used his announcement interview to stress several times that the change is being made organically rather than from the top down. Elliott has been allowed to own the decision via an own-motion review and Allison has agreed to take his old job back, with management merely approving the recommendations.
It’s very much in line with the mantra of internal empowerment championed by the team throughout its title-winning days, particularly on those occasions when top-line staff changed — like the previous Allison and Elliot job changes in 2021.
MORE MOTORSPORT
MICHAEL ITALIANO: The Dan Ricciardo lessons that could save F1 star’s career — and the Aussie trainer teaching them
‘NO-BRAINER’: SVG signs extension as Supercars star reveals moment that ‘solidified’ call on future
‘TASTELESS’: Editor of 14 years fired over Schumacher interview fake
Finally, moving Allison back to the technical director role must be considered for its positive effect on the atmosphere within the team as much as for the effect he’ll have on the design of next year’s car.
It’s been almost a decade since the team became a regular title contender. The change of rules, change of technical director and change of on-track fortunes have been a shock to the system. The team has also lost strategy boss James Vowles to Williams and chief aerodynamicist to Aston Martin in the last 12 months.
Reinstating Allison means a familiar face from the team’s glory days — and a hugely respected technical chief with a record of success — will be back at the factory five days a week and more frequently at the circuit.
“The troops are going to go through the fire for him and with him,” Wolff said of Allison’s prestige at Brackley.
None of that is to disparage Elliott of course. Mercedes wouldn’t have kept him on, never mind implement the restructure he himself suggested, were he not considered a valuable asset.
He’s just not the asset the team needs to lead it back to the front.
