James Allison: Heading to Ferrari or McLaren after Lotus?

As soon as Team Lotus had officially announced the departure of James Allison, their technical director, rumors were circulating about him moving to various teams in the paddock. However, the most likely destination seemed to be Ferrari: “If Allison is available, it’s better to have him with us than to see him strengthen another team,” admitted Fernando Alonso to Italian television.

And the Spaniard added during a press conference: « I worked closely with him and I was a world champion with him twice. Then, I returned to Renault in 2008 and 2009, he was already the technical director and we weren’t as successful with the car. But we’ve seen the Lotus these last two years and it’s no secret that he’s one of the best in the paddock and we’ll see what his future holds. »

Ferrari President Lucas di Montezemolo, for his part, refused to confirm any return of James Allison to Maranello, as the Briton served there for five years starting in 2000: « We will communicate when there is news to share, not when there are rumors. » Indeed, Pat Fry is already at the head of the Scuderia’s technical department and does not seem threatened in Maranello. Having left Lotus in the hope of finding greener pastures elsewhere, it seems unlikely that he would accept a position with less responsibility, and therefore some speculate that he might share responsibilities with Pat Fry, with whom he has already collaborated at Benetton in the 1990s.

Other possibilities, however, should not be ruled out even if, on the Mercedes side, the arrival of James Allison remains unlikely, as the Brackley team already has a plethora of technical managers to which Paddy Lowe, the former technical director of the McLaren team, could soon be added. Toto Wolff, the executive director of the German team, has indeed denied any interest in the British engineer even though he acknowledges that he was indeed approached by Niki Lauda during the off-season: [Niki Lauda] started talking to the right people and asking them about their professional situation: James Allison was one of those people. But it’s a discussion from the past, I think it was in December, and that’s when I arrived and put an end to those discussions.

From then on, McLaren seems to be the main possible competitor to Ferrari, with the team from Woking securing the services and experience of James Allison to offset the departure of Paddy Lowe, even though Tim Goss was quickly appointed as the new technical director of the English team. However, according to the BBC, James Allison has already declined an offer from McLaren as well as Williams.

The desires that James Allison arouses, however, lead to questions about the impact his departure from Lotus will have on the Enstone team. Kimi Räikkönen acknowledges that it is difficult to know to what extent it will affect us in the future: It’s done, we live with it and hope it won’t change much. Obviously, he was a big part of the team for a long time, but everyone is important. Everyone does their job, and without each of them, nothing would work. Obviously, he is a good person and it’s a shame he’s leaving, but that’s life, and we’ll see if it makes a difference or not. We would have preferred to keep him rather than see him go, but many things can happen in someone’s life. I don’t know why he left; it’s not for me to comment.

However, for some, James Allison’s departure could hasten that of Kimi Räikkönen – whose name is the subject of persistent rumors linking him alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull – something the Finn formally denied this weekend: « Of course, everyone wants to have the best people around him but it won’t make a difference regarding my decision to stay or not. »