"You're gonna have your team running through walls for you": New Mercedes technical head receives praise from F1 pundit 

F1 pundit Scott-Mitchell Malm mentioned that Mercedes might get a 'new manager bounce' after James Allison's return to the role of technical director for the rest of the season.

Allison replaced Mike Elliott and swapped roles with him amidst Mercedes' crisis and inability to challenge leaders and rivals Red Bull for championship and race wins. The former Ferrari man was promoted to the Chief Technical Officer position ahead of the start of the 2022 season.

While appearing on The Race podcast, Mitchell-Malm said:

"When you look at the fact that it brings James Allison back into that day-to-day role, I wonder if this will be a rare example of the technical part of an F1 team having that sort of 'new manager bounce' because Allison is unique in F1 in terms of the seniority he has within the team and the respect he commands from everyone."

"But there is also a sort of personable aspect: how charismatic he is. I get that feeling that Allison's kind of that person if there is an engineering equivalent of, 'You're gonna have your team running through walls for you.' Allison feels like that kind of technical leader."

"It’s exciting and fun and interesting and a pleasure to be back up to my neck in it" - Mercedes technical director

James Allison mentioned that the new project is very exciting for him and he is already loaded with work up to his neck. While appearing on the F1 Nation podcast, he said:

“I was much less involved than I had been as a technical director. I was more maneuvering around in that sort of 2026 space than in the here and now of the current car. It certainly is a fair old chunk of effort to get up to speed with everything."

"Not merely the regulations but the full engine of the factory and the race team and all the things that are currently in play in the championship fight. But it’s exciting and fun and interesting and a pleasure to be back up to my neck in it.”

Allison also spoke about Mercedes' W14 and its characteristics, adding:

“It’s reliable, touch wood. That’s a definite strength. It’s got a very quick pair of punters pedaling it around. It’s better than most of the grid out there. But until it’s the quickest one it will always feel like a weak car to all of us."

It will be fascinating to see how James Allison improves the 2023 Mercedes and make it more competitive for the rest of the season.