Following the season where the eight-time champions failed to secure a race victory, Mike Elliott, the chief technical officer at Mercedes, has departed from the team.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed that Elliott’s departure was a personal decision. “It’s clear that he’s ready for new adventures beyond Mercedes,” said Wolff. “I know this is the right step for him.”
Having served Mercedes for 11 years, Elliott played a pivotal role in the team’s success during their streak of eight consecutive constructors’ championship victories from 2014 to 2022. He initially held the position of head of aerodynamics and later transitioned into the role of technology director.
During his tenure, the team secured seven consecutive drivers’ titles from 2014 to 2021, with six titles won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg. Wolff expressed mixed emotions about Elliott’s departure, stating, “Mike has been one of the pillars of the team’s achievements over the past decade, and it’s with truly mixed feelings that we say goodbye to him today. He is a fiercely intelligent technical mind and a valuable team player, contributing not only to the creation of winning racing cars but also to the establishment of our team’s culture.”
However, Elliott’s elevation to technical director in July 2021, in preparation for the 2022 season with Formula 1’s most significant technical rule changes in 40 years, did not yield the expected success.
The team adopted a radical design philosophy known as the “zero-sidepod” concept, diverging significantly from the approach taken by Red Bull, who subsequently dominated the last two seasons. Lewis Hamilton expressed his skepticism about the design, stating immediately after testing the car in Bahrain that the team was “on the wrong track.”
Following this, Elliott exchanged roles with James Allison, who had been the technical director since 2017 but was promoted to chief technical officer in 2021. In the 2022 season, Mercedes struggled to achieve success, securing only one victory in Brazil with George Russell.
The team failed to replicate that success throughout the year. Mercedes confirmed that since April, Elliott had been occupied in his role as CTO, focusing on developing a strategy to revitalize the team’s technical capabilities for the future.
The team stated, “With this plan now in place and in the process of implementation, Mike has decided to take a break from the sport in the coming months before deciding on his next challenge.” Reflecting on his career, Elliott, who began in F1 at McLaren in 2000, expressed gratitude for his time at Mercedes during their dominance in the sport.
He highlighted his pride in contributing to the team’s journey despite the recent challenging seasons. Elliott acknowledged the setbacks in the last two years and the invaluable lessons learned during this time. He expressed his enjoyment in developing the technical strategy aimed at laying the groundwork for the team’s future success.
Deciding that now is the appropriate moment to move on from Mercedes, Elliott aims to pause and evaluate after dedicating 23 years of continuous service to the sport. He plans to seek out his next challenge beyond Mercedes in the near future.
BY BBC Sports
