Nick Chester replaces James Allison at Lotus
F1 resumes this weekend with the start of the European season. Before the hostilities resume on track, the Spanish weekend begins with a big announcement: James Allison has decided to leave his position as technical director at Lotus. He will be replaced by Nick Chester.
The news of James Allison’s departure is not fundamentally a surprise since paddock rumors had been circulating since the beginning of the season. A significant hint emerged during the Australian Grand Prix when the technical director did not go up to the podium to celebrate Kimi Räikkönen’s victory, even though he was one of the main contributors.
This is not the first move within the closed circle of team directors this season, as McLaren also had to deal with the departure of theirs when Paddy Lowe announced he was leaving the team. An internal solution was then found with the appointment of Tim Goss.
The same type of solution has been adopted by the Enstone team as Nick Chester will now be the technical director. He is a longstanding member of the team, having joined in 2000 from Arrows. He climbed the ranks of the team hierarchy to become the director of engineering.
The information has been officially confirmed by the team, through its director, Eric Boullier: « We are very pleased to announce that Nick Chester will be our next Technical Director. Everyone at Enstone knows him well since he has been part of the team for over twelve years. He is already directly involved in the car projects for this year and next year, which will ensure a smooth transition that has been prepared for some time. Being able to rely on someone of Nick’s caliber is a testament to the strength of the talent pool at Enstone and it is a tradition of the house to promote its Technical Directors internally. He takes his new position at an absolutely exciting time for the sport. The changes to the technical regulations for 2014 present many challenges, and at the same time, our second place in the constructors’ and drivers’ world championships mean that we must not lose sight of the battle for technical development this year. Nick must quickly step into his new role, but we know he is more than capable of fulfilling his future tasks. »
The question now arises as to the destination of James Allison, one of the architects of the strong performances recorded by Lotus over the past two years. As has often been the case recently, the paddock believes that the Briton is set to join Mercedes, which is currently offering positions (and large salaries) to almost all the top technical directors and engineers in the paddock. By recruiting various talents, it will become necessary to let some leave, as it seems inconceivable that talents of the caliber of Paddy Lowe, James Allison, or Aldo Costa could remain in the shadow of Ross Brawn for long, who has been at the helm for many seasons with meager results (apart from the 2009 title, but with his own team, Brawn GP).
It remains to be seen if Lotus will be able to maintain the pace of technical developments necessary to capitalize on its very good start to the season. Especially since Kimi Räikkönen only drives to fight at the front. If the team were to be destabilized by this departure during the season, the Finn might choose to drive for another team next year…
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
