F1 | Allison renews: “With the problems solved, Mercedes will be a challenger”

James Allison has renewed his contract with Mercedes. The Brackley team made it official with a statement which, however, did not specify the length of the new agreement, defined as “long term”.

Allison's renewal follows by a few days that of Toto Wolff in the role of team principal until the end of 2026, confirming the stability policy decided by the top management (of which Wolff himself is a part). After the step back decided in April 2021 (following which the technical helm of Mercedes was passed to Mike Elliot) Allison returned to the front line last April, resuming the operational role occupied since his arrival in the team at the beginning of 2017.

The news of the renewal confirms the desire to continue in the coming years, an intention that emerged during a meeting with the media from which the 'usual' Allison was evident, that is, decidedly motivated to return to the top as soon as possible.

Was the contract renewal already planned when you decided to return to the front line last year?
“It's actually not something I focused on when I returned. The decision to resume my previous role was very instinctive, I was asked and I immediately said 'yes'. Subsequently I felt the desire to move forward, it is a job that I like and I hope to be able to make a good contribution.”

Usually these contract renewals are kept secret by the teams. On the contrary, in both your and Wolff's cases the extension was made public. Is there a desire on the part of the owners to reiterate the stability of the staff in the long term?
“Stability is undoubtedly an added value within a team. Knowing that Toto will play his role for a long time to come, and to a lesser extent also my figure, helps to put the team in a position to be able to work at its best, and I believe it is also an important aspect in the relationship with partners”.

We can imagine that in the last two seasons the team has not gone through an easy period. In this scenario, however, there is the challenge of returning to where you have been for a long time: is this an aspect that motivates you and that you see as a challenge?
“Well, it's certainly more fun to win, but you have to love the sport in its entirety, we are all aware that when you don't work in the best way there is a price to pay. I think one of the things to admire when looking at Red Bull's current performance is their perseverance, they have always remained courageously faithful to their task over a rather long period, and now they are enjoying the fruits of work that started a long time ago.”

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14

“We know that in this work there will never be a linear trend, we are always on a roller coaster, there are moments in which slaps are dealt with but it is in those moments that the foundations are laid to get back up. I know that our path to return It will be steep at the top, but at the same time I'm sure it will be very motivating and maybe even fun.”

The next big challenge that the technical departments of all the teams will have to face will be the regulatory change that will come into effect in 2026. Was the decision to extend the contract also influenced by the desire to test yourself with a new generation of single-seaters?
“It is, obviously, an appointment that we all have in mind, the next big challenge. On the one hand today there is a single-seater that we will present in a few days, as well as a challenging season that awaits us and to follow also another world championship with the current regulations. But I am sure that every team on the grid already this year will have the 2026 program in mind, without prejudice to the fact that we must hope to see the technical regulations become definitively clear.”

“I believe that everyone is ready to set up a working group dedicated to what will be a completely new generation of single-seaters, and as far as I'm concerned I will have the opportunity to be alongside this group while we try to outline the guidelines for the new project It's a great opportunity, which I also find exciting.”

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Mercedes W14: the evolutions of 2023, but with few results

Many fans fear that the superiority shown by Red Bull last season will lead to dominance that will continue until the regulation change. Do you think that in the short term the opponents will have the opportunity to eliminate the technical gap seen in 2023?
“Toto compared the challenge ahead to climbing Everest, and personally I think that's an appropriate comparison because Everest is the toughest challenge. At the same time it is still something that is possible to do, and this is the spirit with which we accept this challenge, we are aware that the favorites are others, but we will try to be good challengers.”

“We hope to have done a good job with the new car and to have resolved some of the problems that were very evident last season. Then there are other aspects. If we analyze the performance of last season, Red Bull was dominant from the first to the last race, but by broadening the scenario to the entire grid, you can see how the performances tend to converge”.

“In some Q1s we saw all the single-seaters enclosed in one second, and I don't think it's a coincidence but rather a trend that began in 2022 and continued last year. Personally I believe that this convergence will continue this year too, so in addition to hope that we have to bring a good car to the track, my prediction is that we will all be more grouped together. If this trend is confirmed, other aspects will also make the difference, from the operational ones, to the performance of the drivers, from the general reliability of the car, to race management, all these things could be factors that could determine hierarchies.”

Toto seemed quite optimistic last week after seeing the feedback from the simulator. What's your feeling?
“At this time of year there is always a feeling of apprehension, enthusiasm and a bit of fear, it's like that for everyone, I imagine for Red Bull too. They are coming off a season in which they achieved great results, but I don't think they can sleep with the certainty that no one will be able to undermine them. These are weeks in which we wonder what our opponents have done, and I assure you that it is like this for everyone.”

“For our part, we hope that some of the problems of the old single-seater have been definitively resolved, that the rear of the car is less capricious than the 2023 one and that the handling has improved. At the moment we can only see the results in the simulations, but we have reasonable reasons to believe that the situation has improved. And then, as always, there is the work on making the car lighter as well as something extra that comes from calibrating the power unit.”

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

How did you see the morale of the riders during the break? Have you had the opportunity to understand whether Lewis' motivation is always at its maximum?
“I think you would struggle to find an unmotivated driver in this period and, from experience I would add that the more successful the drivers have been, the more they feel the need to win again. In Lewis' case he is simply a fundamental part of the team, there is not the slightest doubt about his motivation and the desire he has to return to success soon. But whether or not he manages to do so will depend above all on what we make available to him.”

What are your thoughts on the changes in the Red Bull-AlphaTauri relationship?
“I'm not entirely sure what the nature of the relationship is between these two teams. The rules are clear, the supply of components that can exist between two teams is very limited, the regulations are very clear regarding the prohibition on transferring elements that are considered intellectual property of a team. The way this rule is written prohibits any communication.”

“A partnership between two teams can exist on the commercial front but not on the technical or sporting front, the rules are very strict. In the past we had a partnership with Racing Point, but at the time the regulations allowed much more freedom than today, and I can say that the rules were tightened precisely in response to that collaboration, specifying that a partnership based on that model could no longer be had. If today we discovered that there was something similar in the paddock, it would be a problem.”