Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff "head and shoulders clear of the rest" - James Allison

Mercedes

Wolff "head and shoulders clear of the rest" - Allison

The Mercedes technical director has worked for several great names in F1 during his 30-year career

Ian Parkes

Sunday 3 May 2020 13:33 Updated: 09:13

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has been hailed "head and shoulders clear of the rest" as a team principal.

The accolade comes from Mercedes technical director James Allison, who has worked for some well-known names such as Flavio Briatore, Jean Todt, Stefano Domenicali, Maurizio Arrivabene and Eric Boullier during his near 30-year F1 career.

But after spending three years with Mercedes, Allison has said of Wolff that "as a team principal, head and shoulders clear of the rest would be Toto".

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Speaking on Mercedes' Youtube channel, Allison added: "That's because of the warmth and the vitality he brings to our company, the trust he places in us.

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"Also, the fact that he gives everyone who works for him a certain amount of space and leeway to make their own decisions with a high degree of autonomy, while requiring high standards from us all, and holding us to account in a clear and straightforward fashion if we're not cutting it."

Allison has also claimed that Bob Bell, currently the chief technical officer at Renault, has served as "the biggest influence on me as an engineer".

By his own admission, Allison suggests Bell might be "a little bit of a surprise given I've worked with some of the fairly big names in the sport", including the likes of Ross Brawn.

Explaining his thinking, Allison said: "Bob is an engineer that, for anyone who has been lucky enough to work for him, would have nothing but good things to say about him.

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"He's got the most fantastically good, clear judgment, and to top that, more impressively, he just has a level of unimpeachable integrity that just sets an example to anyone who has ever worked alongside him or under him.

"Bob is someone who would never show off, is the absolutely opposite of someone who would be a self-publicist, so his name isn't spoken about that much, but anyone who has worked for him would hold him in the highest regard.

"He is someone who always would put the team first and himself second. He would bare his teeth on occasion when it was merited, but for the most part, is just a fantastic person to work alongside."