James Allison has revealed he made his decision to step down as Mercedes technical director in 2019. Allison, who joined Mercedes in 2017, will leave his current role on July 1. He will continue to work closely with the Mercedes leadership in Brackley and Brixworth, helping the team to meet the various challenges of the new regulation changes for 2022. "It was a decision that arrived pretty clearly in my head during 2019," Allison told RacingNews365.com and other select members of the press. "It was merely a question of organising the timing of that in a way that would allow the company to grow in strength as a result of handing over to a really strong engineering, Mike Elliot, and to do so in a way that allowed the Mercedes to attack the championships without without missing a step." Allison will move into the new role of Chief Technical Office which will see him makes fewer appearances at the race track. The new role is set to see him delve into projects outside of Formula 1. "I wanted to make sure that I could be true to this team," said Allison. "I wanted to make sure that I committed to being a technical director, over a period where I felt like I could owe my salt, but not to outstay my welcome and to know when the right time to step away was. "I would much rather that was done when I was still useful, rather than becoming an old embarrassment and, and that was what was playing in my mind at the time. "So it was it was a long time ago that I knew about it in my own head and then it takes a while to get the building blocks in place to to make it a reality."
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