Mike Elliot, technical director, is leaving Mercedes

It is the end of the collaboration between Mike Elliot and Mercedes. The technical director, who arrived in 2012, announced that he will leave the German team at the end of the year, once his contract is over. The English engineer informed the factory of his departure on Monday, October 30th. Following his job exchange in April 2023 with James Allison, Elliot has decided that it is the right time to retire. The technical director explained that he wishes to step away from the world of F1 for a while, after spending 23 years in the motorsport industry. “It has been one of the great privileges of my career to be part of this Mercedes team,” said Mike Elliot. “During my contract, I have seen this group of people grow together to win races, then a first championship, and ultimately achieve a record-breaking eight consecutive constructor championships. I am proud to have contributed to this journey (…). I have decided that it is the right time to take a new step beyond Mercedes, firstly to take a break and reflect, after 23 years of hard work in this sport, and then to find my next challenge. I want to thank my teammates for 12 fantastic seasons together and I wish them continued success in the years to come.”

The symbol of Mercedes’ golden age.

Mike Elliot joined Mercedes in 2012, and after a year spent as the principal aerodynamicist at Lotus, he arrived as the head of aerodynamics. He held this position until 2017, a period during which Mercedes won four driver and constructor championships. Between 2014 and 2017, the start of the team’s domination, Hamilton and Rosberg won 63 races, consistently crushing the competition in terms of race pace and top speed.

From 2017, Mike Elliot was promoted to Chief Technical Officer. Until 2021, Mercedes won all the constructors’ titles. The only title that escaped them was the World Drivers’ Championship in 2021. However, the annual development of both cars allowed Hamilton and Bottas to achieve the best results.

In 2021, the engineer took over the position of technical director. He thus succeeded James Allison. However, between the new FIA reform (new aerodynamic regulations, development of frozen engines…) and the beginning of Red Bull’s domination, Mercedes struggled to keep up and faced difficulties in car development. Since his appointment as technical director, the German team has not won any constructor titles, leaving the victory to Red Bull. “Although the past two seasons have not seen us win races in the way we aspire to,” said the British engineer, “they have tested us in many other ways.” They have also forced us to question our fundamental assumptions about how we achieve performance. Over the past six months, I have enjoyed developing the technical strategy that, hopefully, will lay the groundwork for the team’s next cycle of success.”

A departure that troubles Mercedes.

With 11 years spent in the ranks of Mercedes, the team’s leaders regret the departure of Mike Elliot. This symbol of Mercedes’ golden era would have been well kept by Toto Wolff. Mike has been one of the cornerstones of the team’s achievements over the past decade, and it is with truly mixed feelings that we bid him farewell today, explained the team director. Mike is an extremely intelligent technical brain and an excellent team player. He has greatly contributed not only to winning our cars but also to building the culture of our team. But on the other hand, it is clear that he is ready for new adventures beyond Mercedes, so I know that this is the right step for him too. He leaves the team today with our thanks for the efforts, commitment, and expertise he has brought to the team over the past 11 years and our best wishes for the future.

James Allison will take over Mike Elliot’s position on a full-time basis.