Back in the spotlight: James Allison back at Mercedes

Out of the blue, James Allison seemed to stand in front of the camera. As if he had never been away, the former Mercedes technical boss did the team's debrief on the German's YouTube channel after the Australian Grand Prix.

In October 2021, it was announced that Allison was moving to the INEOS Brittania project, a sailing team competing in the legendary America Cup, as Chief Technical Officer (CTO). At the time, the impression was given that Allison had thereby bid Mercedes' Formula 1 team farewell. The debriefing showed otherwise.

Splitting time with sailing team

"James has split his time working across the INEOS Britannia project and the F1 side of our business," a Mercedes AMG F1 spokesperson told GPBlog. "He’s therefore consistently been part of our technical leadership and as such, features in our Akkodis race debrief from time-to-time. He’s also attended races from time to time and will continue to do so."

The structure bears similarities to the way Adrian Newey works on 'Red Bull Technology projects' while being ultimately responsible for Red Bull Racing's F1 car.