Allison to join Mercedes as Technical Director

As expected ...

 

Great!

 

This will be great.

 

Not big news really.

Paddy Lowe and Nico Rosberg out were big news. Allison and Bottas were just the most obvious available replacements.

 

The plight of Scuderia Ferrari continues… This is not good for Ferrari. Gardening leave or not. Maybe the sweater will take notice and perhaps correct the culture of Ferrari.

 

Why so much drama now?

Allison was out since last year and his gardening leave ends in March. He´s free to go wherever he wants.

 

If Allison brings the same success to MB as he did to Ferrari, we don't have anything to worry about.

 

+1

I am banking on a new design being superior.

 

After the tragic death of his wife, Allison wanted back in England with his children. Nothing wrong with that IMHO. He'll have negligible effect on the 2017 MB.

 

Oh..the year started not in the best way..

 

Here we go again! - The car's not even been unveiled yet, let alone turned a wheel on track, and the season's being written off already!

 

I am not writing it off. I am looking at the tumultuous last season and winter break and having reasonable concerns.

 

It's not last season for a start off - it's a brand new season, and with the new regulations, no one knows what might happen. Any of the teams could hit the ground running with a good car, and that, believe it or not, includes Ferrari!

As for the winter break,What has been so tumultuous it? - By Ferrari's usual standards, the winter break has been incredibly quiet!

This is the first season for a long time where we haven't had any stupid pre-season predictions from people within the team about how well they're going to do in the coming season, or demands from the top bosses about just how successful Ferrari must be in the coming season - And that makes a bloody nice change!

For once in a long time, Ferrari have simply quietly got on with the job at hand.

A note of caution is a wise thing when it comes to Ferrari and a new F1 season, but when you get posts such as:

and:

.....based purely on a single ex-team member joining another team, well that sure sounds to Me like the annual Fchat: "The season's over already!" talk that we get every single year before the car has even touched any tarmac!

 

Agree with the above.

It was a pity to loose Allison, but now that he's gone what he does is not our business. Actually, the change is bad for Mercedes: even if Allison delivers, you never want changes in a winning team.

 

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Wolff extends power at Mercedes



Toto Wolff has reportedly upped his pay and "extended his power" at Mercedes ahead of the 2017 season.

Following a period of speculation, the German marque has announced that team boss Wolff and chairman Niki Lauda have extended their contracts through 2020.

The German newspaper Bild claimed: "In fact, Wolff has expanded his power over the winter."

Bild said that while Wolff has been sharing the team boss role with the now Williams-bound Paddy Lowe, the Briton's replacement James Allison is only technical director.

"Thus, he (Allison) is subordinate to Wolff," correspondents Lennart Wermke and Jens Nagler said.

They added that the shareholding of the dominant Brackley based team is Mercedes 60 per cent, Wolff 30pc and former triple world champion Lauda 10pc.

F1 legend Lauda, 67, said he is happy to be staying for at least three more years.

"The past few years have been some of the best I have experienced in formula one," he said. "Toto and I form a perfect partnership."

Bild said Wolff will be paid about EUR 3.5 million by Mercedes this year, compared to 2 million for fellow Austrian Lauda.

 

perfetto