Wolff "delighted" to retain Allison within 'Mercedes family'

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed his delight at retaining James Allison within the "family" after a shakeup of the technical leadership team.

Allison has been the Mercedes technical director since 2017 but a shuffling of personnel announced on Friday saw the 53-year-old take on a new position as chief technical officer.

The newly created role will take Allison away from the day to day running of the Formula 1 team's technical operations with his focus instead shifting to meeting the "strategic challenges of the sport's next era".

"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," said Wolff.

"He will be an important sparring partner for me in the next years and I know that we still have much to achieve together."

He added: "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."

Mike Elliot will replace Allison as technical director and Wolf paid tribute to the ability of Mercedes to promote from within, saying: "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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