James Allison and Mike Elliott swap jobs in Mercedes reshuffle of technical team; Allison returns to technical director role with Elliott moving to chief technical officer; Elliott prompted decision having concluded his skills were not best suited to the technical director role
Saturday 22 April 2023 07:14, UK
James Allison has returned to the role of technical director at Mercedes as part of a reshuffle by the former world champions as they seek to recover from a difficult start to the season.
Mercedes have confirmed to Sky Sports News Allison has swapped roles with Mike Elliott, who moves to chief technical officer.
Elliott had originally replaced Allison as technical director in 2021 when Allison moved into the newly-created chief technical officer role.
Sky Sports News understands the job swap came about several weeks ago, with Allison to once again attend race weekends on a more regular basis.
Elliott prompted the decision having concluded his skills were not best suited to the technical director role. Allison will report to Elliott following the swap.
Allison's more competitive approach is regarded as a better driver of Mercedes' in-season performance.
A Mercedes spokesperson told Sky Sports News: "Mike has led a review of our technical organisation to ensure we have the right structure to deliver sustainable success in the future.
"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 organisation."
The reshuffle to Mercedes' technical team comes a week before the F1 season resumes in Azerbaijan.
The Silver Arrows have once again started the season playing catch-up, having persisted with their concept following 2022's rules overhaul.
Mercedes are third in the constructors' championship, 67 points behind reigning champions Red Bull and nine points behind Aston Martin.
Lewis Hamilton complained after the season-opening Bahrain GP that Mercedes' design team had not listened to his recommendations for this year's car.
Team boss Toto Wolff also said following qualifying in Bahrain that the team needed to switch focus after conceding they had been wrong to stick with their concept.
On Thursday, Wolff said in a Mercedes Q&A that the team are now on the "right trajectory" with their car.
The Formula 1 season resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from April 28-30, with the first Sprint weekend of 2023 shown in full live on Sky Sports F1. Watch Saturday's Sprint at 2:30pm and Sunday's race at 12pm. Get Sky Sports
