James Allison will become the new Mercedes chief technical officer, being replaced in his role as technical director by Mike Elliott.

Mercedes has evolved a number of its senior management positions in recent years in an attempt to strengthen the team for the future, and has created the new role of CTO for Allison (pictured above) who will oversee operations at both Brackley and Brixworth, where Mercedes High Performance Powertrains are produced. Stepping back from the day-to-day running of the Formula 1 technical operations — a role he has held since early 2017 — from July 1, Allison will focus on preparing Mercedes for the sport’s next era.

“I firmly believe that people have a shelf life in senior roles in this sport, and I have chosen to step away from my role as technical director in order to pass on the baton at the right time for the organization and myself,” Allison said. “I have enjoyed four and a half wonderful years as technical director, and it has been a special privilege to lead the technical effort of the team in that time.

“It is a great pleasure to be succeeded by Mike, an exceptional engineer in a tremendously strong group of senior leaders in the team. We will benefit from the freshness that he will bring to the role — and I hope I can continue to make a useful contribution across a new sphere of activity in my role as CTO, with a focus on increasing our capability across the board and supporting Toto (Wolff) with the major strategic challenges we face in the near future.”

Mike Elliott

Replacing Allison is the current Mercedes technology director Elliott, who has been part of the setup since 2012.

“It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work for James earlier in my career at Renault, and for the past four years at Mercedes,” Elliott said. “His track record in the sport speaks for itself, and he has been a fantastic teammate and leader for me during that time. They are big shoes to fill and I am delighted that we will be able to call on his expertise in his new role as CTO.

“On a personal level, it is an amazing opportunity to become technical director of a team like Mercedes, and I must thank Toto and our company for trusting me to make the step up to this new role. It is an incredible privilege to be part of this team and I know that the leadership strength at every level through the company will be vital to our future success. I can’t wait to get started and to tackle the many exciting technical challenges ahead of us in the next months and years.”