Mercedes F1’s senior duo James Allison and Mike Elliott to swap roles amidst restructuring of the team

In their bid to return to the top of the sport once again, the Mercedes F1 team have decided to swap their technical director in the middle of the 2023 season, with former technical director James Allison set to replace Mike Elliott.

Elliott was promoted to technical director while Allison took on the CTO role for the team ahead of the big regulation change in 2022. However, the Silver Arrows have declined under Elliott since the start of the previous season, winning only one race in the last 20 months.

While speaking to Autosport, Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff said:

"This was very much driven by Mike Elliott owning the process. So, we have reversed the roles. Mike has moved up to CTO as he has a brilliant switched-on scientific mind. And James Allison has returned to his technical director position, reporting to Mike."

He added:

"What Mike's assessment was, and the introspection is really admirable, is that with James we have a gladiator on the field and the troops are going to go through the fire for him and with him. "

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"I'm actually very happy that Mike took this decision by himself to put himself in this role"- Mercedes team boss

Toto Wolff further stated that he was very happy with James Allison and Mike Elliott mutually deciding to switch roles for the betterment of the team.

The Mercedes team principal said:

"Mike came to the conclusion that the way he approaches things, his skill set, is best utilized in developing the organization going forward, from technical capabilities to human capabilities, and putting together the structure that can be successful for many years to come."

"It's about creating a structure that can be sustainably successful going into the next generation. We're seeing huge changes in technical developments, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Mike sees himself very much in his sweet spot there and obviously he's a super capable engineer, very credible and respected in the organization."

He added:

"He is going to be a coach and sparring partner for the most senior people. I'm very happy that Mike took this decision by himself to put himself in this role, with both him and James coming to this conclusion, as we are having both of them in their genius."

James Allison was key to Mercedes' success from 2018 to 2021 as he designed some of the most dominant F1 cars in the sport's history in the W10 and the W11.