According to the official statement put out by Mercedes, the position of a Chief Technical Officer is a new role in the company. The team says that the new role for Allison will be to look after the strategic challenges of Formula 1’s new era beginning in 2022 along with being a technical leader at Brackley and Brixworth.

Mike Elliott has 21 years of experience in Formula 1. Elliott first joined the series with McLaren in 2000 as an aerodynamicist. He was later made a trackside aerodynamicist in 2003 and then the Leader of Aerodynamic Performance in 2006.

The Brit worked at the Woking-based team for eight years before moving to Renault, joining them as a Principle Aerodynamicist.

Mike Elliott first joined Mercedes in 2012 as the Head of Aerodynamics and was later promoted to Technology Director in 2017, replacing Geoff Willis. Elliot has been with Mercedes for nine years now and is a worthy candidate to replace the experienced James Allison.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has said that James Allison’s contribution has been immense in the team’s success. The Austrian further added that the appointment is the first step Mercedes have taken to enter a new era for the team:

“Since joining Mercedes in 2017, James has been an exceptional technical leader for our team, and he has made an enormous contribution to our performance.”

Speaking about the reshuffling at Mercedes, Wolff added:

“Effective succession planning has been the strength of our team, so I am delighted to announce Mike in his new role as Technical Director. Mike has developed from our Head of Aerodynamics to now being ready to take the step up to become Technical Director. Together with an exceptional group of senior technical leaders, this puts us in the best possible position for the sport’s next era.”

Outgoing Technical Director James Allison felt the time was right for him to step down and have someone as experienced as Mike Elliott takes his seat. Allison said:

“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 organisation and myself. 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 with the major strategic challenges we face in the near future.”

Mike Elliott said that he felt privileged to become the new Technical Director at Mercedes. Even though he says they are big shoes to fill, he is looking forward to starting his new chapter at Mercedes.

“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.”