After many years of employment
A special development at the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team. Mike Elliott, an important technical leader within the team for years, is leaving. It may have to do with the disappointing performance since the beginning of last year.
Maybe the name doesn’t mean anything to you, even if you watch Formula 1, but Mike Elliott has been one of the most important people behind the scenes at Mercedes F1 for years. In 2012 he took over as head of aerodynamics, in 2017 he became technological director, followed by a role as technical director from 2021. In the latter role things went a bit less, because in 2022 Mercedes came up with a car that determined did not deliver what the team had hoped for. Elliott is of course not entirely responsible for this, but when he was appointed CTO (Chief Technical Officer) earlier this year, it was publicly seen as a demotion.
That was probably a prelude to what has happened now, because Elliott has now resigned. At least, that is the official statement from the Formula 1 team. Elliott’s departure may also have to do with the struggles of the team, which was virtually untouchable for years. James Allison, under whose leadership as technical director Mercedes-AMG F1 achieved great success, is now technical director again since Elliott’s change to CTO. It is not yet clear who will replace Elliott as CTO. Team boss Toto Wolff thanks Elliott for his contribution to the team’s successes and says it is clear he is ready for new adventures outside Mercedes. Elliott also ends on a positive note. He said: “Over the past six months I have enjoyed developing the technical strategy, which we hope can form the basis for the team’s next cycle of success.”
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl