21 April 2023 , 15:31
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Mercedes have made key changes to their top staff in response to a another underwhelming start to a Formula 1 season.
The Silver Arrows have decided to make changes to his team in order to be more efficient under the budget cap. But the most notable change was initially suggested by one of his top aides, Mike Elliott.
Elliott was technical director but, as Toto Wolff has explained, he felt it was not the right fit for his skillset. So James Allison will take on that role with Elliott filling the chief technical officer job that is being vacated by his colleague.
With Wolff open to changes in a bid to improve his team's performance, the Austrian was more than happy to green light the job swap. "This was very much driven by Mike Elliott owning the process," he told Autosport.
"So, we have reversed the roles. Mike has moved up to CTO, as he has a brilliant switched-on scientific mind. And James Allison has returned to his technical director position, reporting in to Mike.
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"What Mike's assessment was – and the introspection is really admirable – that with James we have a gladiator on the field and the troops are going to go through the fire for him and with him. Mike came to the conclusion that the way he approaches things, his skillset is best utilised in developing the organisation going forward.
Lewis Hamilton was critical of his Mercedes team after the Bahrain Grand Prix (PA)"From technical capabilities to human capabilities and putting together the structure that can be successful for many years to come. It's about creating a structure that can be sustainably successful going into the next generation. We're seeing huge changes in the technical developments, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
"And at the same time, looking at how is a modern Formula 1 team going to be organised and structured: what kind of innovation can be brought in." Another significant change sees the chief designer job split into two roles, with John Owen now being supported by engineering director Giacomo Tortora.
The changes come after Lewis Hamilton publicly criticised Mercedes' car design and engineering staff. "It's really about accountability, it's about owning up and saying 'yeah, you know what, we didn't listen to you, it's not where it needs to be and we've got to work'," he said after the first race of the year in Bahrain.