Mercedes' Technical Director James Allison will step down from his role this season, as part of the team's succession plan for their technical departments. Mike Elliott will replace Allison as the team's Technical Director. Allison will move into a different role with Mercedes, a newly created position as Chief Technical Officer. This move will become effective on July 1, with Allison stepping back from his day-to-day running of the Mercedes' technical department. He has been in this role since the start of 2017, joining the team from Ferrari. Allison will concentrate on helping the team meet the new strategic challenges of the new regulations incoming for 2021, working with the technical departments at the team's headquarters at Brackley and the engine headquarters at Brixworth. "I firmly believe that people have a shelf life in senior roles in this sport," Allison said. "I have chosen to step away from my role as Technical Director in order to pass on the baton at the right time for the organisation and myself. I have enjoyed four and a half wonderful years as Technical Director, and it has been a special privilege to lead the technical effort of the team in that time. "It is a great pleasure to be succeeded by Mike, an exceptional engineer in a tremendously strong group of senior leaders in the team. We will benefit from the freshness that he will bring to the role - and I hope I can continue to make a useful contribution across a new sphere of activity in my role as CTO, with a focus on increasing our capability across the board and supporting Toto with the major strategic challenges we face in the near future." Mike Elliott, a Formula 1 veteran of twenty years with McLaren and Renault before joining Mercedes as Head of Aero in 2012, will replace Allison. His current role is as Technology Director. "It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work for James earlier in my career at Renault, and for the past four years at Mercedes," Elliott said as the news of his new role was announced. "His track record in the sport speaks for itself, and he has been a fantastic team-mate and leader for me during that time. They are big shoes to fill and I am delighted that we will be able to call on his expertise in his new role as CTO. On a personal level, it is an amazing opportunity to become Technical Director of a team like Mercedes, and I must thank Toto and our company for trusting me to make the step up to this new role. "It is an incredible privilege to be part of this team and I know that the leadership strength at every level through the company will be vital to our future success. I can't wait to get started and to tackle the many exciting technical challenges ahead of us in the next months and years." Mercedes have been particularly strong at working out succession plans in recent years, ensuring that promotions come from within and with personnel already well embedded within their World Championship winning ethos. Toto Wolff poured praise on Allison, and welcomed his continuation with the team in his new role, as well as highlighting his delight at the new role for Elliott. "Since joining Mercedes in 2017, James has been an exceptional technical leader for our team, and he has made an enormous contribution to our performance: he combines huge passion and determination with detailed expertise and exceptional moral character," Wolff said. "We have known for a while that his time as Technical Director would be coming to an end this year and I am delighted that we have been able to shape this new role to keep him within our motorsport family; he will be an important sparring partner for me in the next years and I know that we still have much to achieve together. "We often say that the organisation is a dynamic organism, and that we need to adapt continuously if we want to truly thrive. Effective succession planning has been a strength of our team, so I am delighted to announce Mike in his new role as Technical Director. "We first met at the beginning of 2013 when I joined the team and have spent many hours talking about the team and its evolution since then. Mike has developed from our Head of Aerodynamics to now being ready to take the step up to become Technical Director. Together with an exceptional group of senior technical leaders, this puts us in the best possible position for the sport's next era."
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