Mercedes is reshuffling the F1 technical team and Allison is promoted to CTO

Allison, who joined the team in early 2017, will become Chief Technical Officer of Mercedes on July 1 and will be responsible for long-term strategic planning.

His change of position opened the door for current Technology Director Mike Elliott to take on the role of Technical Director.

Elliott, who previously worked at Renault and McLaren, originally joined Mercedes in 2012 as Head of Aerodynamics before taking up his current position in 2017.

Mercedes realizes that as part of their longer-term thinking, the change came before the rules revolution of 2022, rather than referring to the performance of its current car.

Team principal Toto Wolff said the team is happy to keep Allison on board with his tenure as technical director, which will end this year.

“Since joining Mercedes in 2017, James has been an exceptional technical leader on our team and has made a tremendous contribution to our performance: He combines great passion and determination with in-depth expertise and exceptional moral character,” he said.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of Mercedes AMG, and James Allison, Technical Director of Mercedes AMG

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“We have known for some time that his time as Technical Director will come to an end this year, and I am delighted that we have been able to shape this new role so that he stays in our motorsport family.

“He will be an important sparring partner for me over the next few years, and I know that we still have a lot to achieve together.”

Allison said he felt the time was right for him to move into a new position instead of moving on and preventing others from growing.

“I firmly believe that people in leadership positions in this sport have durability and I made the decision to step down from my role as technical director in order to pass the baton on at the right time for the organization and me,” he said.

“I have spent a wonderful four and a half years as technical director and it has been a special privilege to lead the team’s technical efforts during that time.”