James Allison has returned to the technical director role at Mercedes as part of a team reshuffle following its difficult start to the Formula 1 season. Here’s what you need to know:

• Allison, 55, served as Mercedes’ technical director between 2017 and 2021, overseeing the design of the cars that won the constructors’ championship each year.
• He moved into the broader position of chief technical officer in the spring of 2021, handing the F1 technical director role to Mike Elliott.
• A review of the technical team led by Elliott paved the way for him to swap roles with Allison ahead of the next race in Azerbaijan.

What Mercedes said

“Mike has led a review of our technical organization to ensure we have the right structure to deliver sustainable success in the future,” a Mercedes spokesperson told The Athletic. “We are focused on building the best racing car — and building the best team to develop that car, with everybody playing to their greatest strengths in the organization.”

Backstory

Since its last constructors’ championship victory in 2021, Mercedes has failed to sustain a challenge at the front of the pack in F1, slipping behind Red Bull in the competitive order. Since the start of the 2022 season, when new car design rules were introduced, the team has only won a single race courtesy of George Russell in Brazil, and last year marked the first winless season of Lewis Hamilton’s F1 career.

Russell’s victory encouraged Mercedes that it could find success with its car design concept, only to admit after its poor start to the 2023 campaign in Bahrain that it had not made the gains it anticipated over the winter. Before the first race, Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ team principal, admitted that he did not think the existing car package would eventually be competitive enough for Russell or Hamilton.

Wolff was confident Mercedes had the right people to turn things around. But a review of the technical team Elliott led has resulted in Allison’s return to the technical director role. As chief technical officer, Allison had a focus beyond the F1 project, including Mercedes’ applied technologies division that designed boats for America’s Cup. He will now return to the day-to-day running of the F1 technical project, reporting to Elliott.

Wolff explained to Motorsport.com, which first reported the news Friday, that Elliott had been “owning the process” and felt he was “best utilized in developing the organization going forward” as chief technical officer. Wolff said Allison was “a gladiator on the field, and the troops are going to go through the fire for him and with him.”

The challenge to turn Mercedes around

Allison has enjoyed a long and successful career in F1, designing cars that have won more than 20 drivers’ and constructors’ championships across stints with Ferrari, Renault, and Mercedes. Hamilton’s last three driver’s titles came in Mercedes cars that Allison helped design.

Upon stepping back from the day-to-day running of Mercedes’ F1 technical team in 2021, Allison said he wanted to “pass on the baton at the right time for the organization and myself.” But he will now return to a much more hands-on role in helping Mercedes turn its fortunes around and mount a challenge to Red Bull again.

Mercedes has been open about the shortcomings of the W14 car, admitting it lacks the downforce compared to its rivals. It has prompted the team to pursue different design routes in the factory, working on new parts and ideas that it believes will offer more significant performance gains.

Hamilton scored his first podium of the year at the last race in Australia, finishing second, but said he still felt “uncomfortable” in the car and was “driving as best I can with that disconnect.”

Allison will be on-site with Mercedes for next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Elliott will continue to attend select events as chief technical officer.

Required reading

(Photo: Charles Coates / Getty Images)