Hamilton gives his approval to Allison’s return: “Will strengthen the team”
During the lengthy break between Australia and Azerbaijan, Mercedes announced that they have adjusted their technical structure.
Allison makes his comeback as technical director, while Mike Elliott - who previously held the TD role - becomes chief technical officer.
Effectively, Allison and Elliott have swapped roles as Mercedes look to recover from a lacklustre start to the year.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Hamilton gave his opinion on the change and how it would impact the team.
“James has always been a part of the team,” he said. “He was obviously focused on another area before. Having him step back in, to support and work alongside Mike, it will strengthen the team.
“He has an amazing amount of experience. Moving forwards it’s great for the team - for the things we want to achieve on track, and off track.”
Hamilton scored Mercedes’ first podium of the year last time out in Melbourne, but he was no match for dominant race winner Max Verstappen.
With a condensed format this weekend, teams might find it tricky to get their cars in the right setup window with just one practice session before qualifying on Friday.
Looking ahead to the weekend in Baku, Hamilton said: “I’m as confident as I can be. A lot of work has been done in the background.
“The last race was great - it won’t be easy to get that result again. I hope we’re just in the mix, I hope we can battle.”
Mercedes are planning a number of sizeable upgrades in the coming races to reduce the gap to Red Bull at the front.
Hamilton conceded that despite their plans for development, Mercedes are “not making up crazy ground” in terms of lap time.
“It’s on the path to getting it to where we want it to be,” he explained. “We’re not going to hit the ground and be where we wanted, at the start of the season.
“We’re not making up crazy ground. Great work is being done in the factory. It takes time to progress.”
