Allison on Mercedes' F1 technical shake-up and W14 verdict
Allison, who stepped back from his day-to-day F1 involvement in mid-2021, has been reinstated to his previous role of technical director in a job swap with Mike Elliott, who becomes CTO.
Speaking to the F1 Nation Podcast in his first interview since returning to the role ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Allison explained the decision-making process, spoke candidly about his personal situation, and gave a shrewd assessment of Mercedes’ W14 car.
Allison on Mercedes’ changes
“We just had a bit of an examining of our own naval here at Brackley and between Mike and I, concluded that the pair of us can cover the ground reasonably well but that perhaps I was better suited to the short-term fighting of a championship of a car and that he was the much better chess player of the pair of us and he would be better suited to doing the job I was doing as CTO previously.
“So we jiggled it about and came up with something we think is a better fighting machine overall.”
The timing of the reshuffle
“I don’t think that this decision is particularly dependent on the fortune of the car at a given race weekend.
“It was based on a sober assessment of what the pair of us are best suited to. And we think that the overall fighting strength of this team is maximised by this role swap.
“Let’s hope that Melbourne is the first step in the pick up of a general recovery that allows us to get more competitive by the weekend.
"Mike and I are convinced that in the jobs we have set out to do that we will be playing our best part in that recovery in the time ahead of us.”
His personal circumstances
“A lot of that goes back to the long and very tragic shadow cast by my wife dying. And being lucky enough a few years later to meet somebody else, who at the time was living in France and working in France and had all her life in France and had done for 20 years or so.
“When she kindly, some would say foolishly, agreed to come and cast her lot in with me so that we could live together, she was giving up an awful lot.
“It seemed a little unfair from my point of view to cast her adrift and say ‘thanks for coming over to England, I’ll see you five minutes a week’.
“Stepping back from the frontline role of technical director allowed some space for our relationship to flourish in a way that would’ve been tough otherwise.
“But that was over two years ago now that Chloe moved over. And she has some roots in this country now doing her own thing that doesn’t depend on my face, so it’s much more believable, much more possible now, to do this than it would’ve been two and a bit years ago.”
His involvement with the W14
“I was much less involved than I had been as a technical director. I was more manoeuvring around in the 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.”
W14’s strengths and weaknesses
“It’s reliable, touch wood. That’s a definite strength. It’s got a very quick pair of punters pedalling 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’s adequately kind to its tyres but not as good as some of the cars that we’ve made in the past.
“It’s got more downforce than most of the cars on the grid but not sufficient.
“Its handling characteristics leave a little to be desired, and need to be worked on for sure.
“But none of this stuff is revelatory. We’ve been talking about it most weekends and it’s part of what this team needs to address to get winning material back in our hands.”
Catching Red Bull
“I’m trying not to think really in those terms. Just concentrating on what are the areas of opportunity on the car,” he says.
“How quickly can we fill those opportunities with hardware or different approaches, with the expectation that that will improve our chances at any given weekend?
“The sooner we can do that, and on the steepest slope possible, the better our chances will be in any given weekend and up against any given team and in the championship.
“But we’re completely realistic about the significant performance of the Red Bull and particularly Max.
“They’re going to be extremely worthy opposition to hunt down and in due course overtake.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
