Mercedes dominated the F1 grid from 2014 to 2020. Albeit, they also won the constructor’s championship in 2021. But they lost the driver’s title in the same year. Since then, the Brackley team has struggled to find their way back into the title contention. The last year was a disaster for the Silver Arrows as they only managed to win a race in Brazil but nowhere else for the whole year.
They gave their arch-rival, Red Bull, a free pass to the driver’s as well as constructor’s title. Even with the start of this year, Mercedes has not raised much hope after the first three races. Red Bull still looks to dominate, whereas the Brackley team has fallen behind Aston Martin as well. Now, drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have the task of beating Red Bull as well as Aston Martin. Moreover, the back-end team is busy in upgraded the team that can bring a car worthy of title contention. That is why the Mercedes team is facing some power-dynamics change inside the team.
Boss Toto Wolff Is Not Sure How Involved Allison Is With Mercedes
Mercedes is looking to make significant changes to the car as well as to the team. The chief technical officer of the Silver Arrows, James Allison, mentioned, “The engineers are working on major upgrades to the W14 car for the next race in Baku and the following races.” However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is not too sure about how involved Allison is in the team. James Allison was the technical director of the team between 2017 and 2021. Later, Allison parted ways with Mercedes. Mike Elliot assumed the same role in the team. But the failure of last year and a not-too-great start this year has inspired the German team to bring back Allison to their technical department.
After the Australian Grand Prix brought back some smiles to the fans and the team as they had their first podium finish this season, James Allison was there as the representative of Mercedes for the Q&A round. It looked like Allison is taking his job with Mercedes as his first priority. However, Toto Wolff doubts that. Wolff talked about Allison, saying, “He is not that involved as James gives his half attention to the American sailing team.” Mercedes’s boss also added that Allison joins the team’s discussion on long-term strategies.
Toto Wolff Expects 100% Dedication From Everybody In The Team
Meanwhile, Wolff explained that Allison gives a lot of time to INEOS Team, the UK-American sailing unit. The only common thread between the UK-American sailing team and the Mercedes F1 team is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of INEOS, the sponsor of the Mercedes F1 team. But Toto feels that James is still critical to the team’s journey either way. However, everybody needs to play their roles with 100% devotion. It is a situation when the team is still trying to figure out the flaws and disadvantages of the car.
They will need James Allison to help Mercedes in every way he can. The car is still filled with flaws in its wind tunnel and the cockpit. Lewis Hamilton is not comfortable with the seat position that is not letting him go full throttle as he usually does. In the almost month break between the Grands Prix in Australia and Azerbaijan, every team will make the necessary changes to get ready for sprint races starting with Baku.
