“I didn’t imagine that there would be a space for me”– James Allison thought he would be compelled to leave Mercedes

“I didn’t imagine that there would be a space for me”– James Allison thought he would be stepping down from Mercedes after leaving his current role.

Mercedes’ James Allison thought he would be leaving Mercedes after stepping down from his role as the technical director this year, though a decision he finalized in 2019, as there was no above position in the team’s hierarchy.

However, it turns out that Toto Wolff created a new designation for Allison so that he can remain with the team and continue contributing to Mercedes’ F1 team.

“When I felt that this was the right thing for me and the best thing for the team to step away, I very much thought that I would be stepping away to my sofa to cheer the team from the sidelines as a punter,”  Allison said ahead of this weekend’s Imola round.

“I didn’t imagine that there would be a space for me in the team, having relinquished this brilliant job. Happily, Toto saw it a little differently. And between us, we worked on the manner in which I could contribute to the team.”

No disruption to Mercedes

Taking a newborn position in the team will not hamper the modus operandi of Mercedes, claims Alisson, and especially of the technical director, which Mike Elliot will take.

“It was merely a question of organising the timing of that in a way that would allow it to be something where the company could grow in strength as a result of handing over to a powerful engineer in Mike Elliot,” said Allison.

“And to do so in a way that allowed the company to attack the championships without missing a step. It was a long time ago that I reached that in my own head, and then it takes a while to sort of get the building blocks in place to make it a reality.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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