Madrid, October 31 (European Press) –
British engineer Mike Elliott has left the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team after 11 years, the Brackley (UK) team announced on Tuesday, having made a “significant contribution to the team’s success” both in racing as well as in the world championship.
“He has decided to leave the team and start the next chapter of his career after Mercedes,” Mercedes said on its website about who served as technical director (“technical chief” in English). “Since joining McLaren as an aerodynamics expert in 2000, Mike has worked continuously in frontline positions in the sport for 23 seasons.
“First as head of aerodynamics, then as technology director and finally as technical director, Mike made a huge contribution to the team’s racing and championship success from 2012 to 2023.” On 21 April, Mercedes announced that he and James Allison would swap positions within the team.
In some ways, Elliott has been demoted from global management to a lower rung of technical leadership. Two years earlier, Allison left global management to take charge of the technology business in a newly created role, while Elliott took his place.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “Mike has been one of the pillars of the team’s achievements over the past decade.” “We say goodbye with mixed emotions,” Wolff said in the note. “Mike is a highly intelligent technical mind and a great team player. He has made a huge contribution not only to winning races, but also to building our team culture.” Mercedes press.
“But on the other hand, it is clear that he is ready for new adventures beyond Mercedes, so I know that this is also the right step for him to take. He leaves the team today with our thanks for the effort, commitment and experience he has.” “We have contributed over the past 11 years, with our best wishes for the future,” Wolf stressed.
“It has been one of the greatest privileges of my career to be part of this team,” Elliott admitted. “During this time, I’ve seen it grow from a group of people coming together to win races, and then the first championship, to winning a record eight consecutive World Constructors’ Championships. I’m proud to contribute to this journey.” He added.
“Although the past two seasons have not seen us win races in the way we had hoped, they have tested us in so many other ways and forced us to question our basic assumptions about how to deliver performance. Over the past six months, I have enjoyed developing the technical strategy that we hope will lay the foundations for the Success coming for the team,” predicted Elliott.
The British-German team stated in its press release that “with this plan now in place and in the pipeline”, Elliott has decided to “take a break” from all sporting activities in the coming months “before deciding on the next challenge”. “.
“I have decided that now is the right time to take my next step after Mercedes; first to stop and take stock, after 23 years of working hard in this sport, and then to find the next challenge. I would like to thank my team-mates. “We have had 12 great seasons together and I hope They have a lot of success in the coming years,” concluded Elliott himself.