ZitatAdam Cooper @adamcooperf1 3m Suggestions that James Allison is on way out of Lotus. He was quoted in press release on Friday so if true it's happened quickly
ZitatAdam Cooper @adamcooperf1 1m If confirmed it could hurt the team's chances of hanging onto Kimi Raikkonen in 2014 as he has a lot of respect for Allison
I am hearing whispers from Enstone that there are changes afoot in the technical department of Lotus F1 Team, with the word being that Technical Director James Allison is finally going to leave the team. There has been much interest in James from other teams for the last couple of years and he has rejected all offers – but obviously he has now been made an offer he cannot refuse. This would seem to suggest that the offer is from Mercedes-Benz. I heard rumours that he was on the move a few weeks ago and asked around but Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes have all denied that he is joining them. What really set the alarm bells going was when Kimi Raikkonen won in Australia and Allison was not on the podium, as it was the first race which he had attended as Technical Director which the team had won and he had clearly played a major role in the success.
Whatever his destination, it seems that Allison has signed a non-disclosure agreement with someone in F1 and in on the move. The word from my spies in Enstone is that he will be replaced by Yorkshireman Nick Chester, a very smart 43-year-old engineer who has been with the team since 2000. Chester started his career after graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in mechanical engineering. His first job was at Nick Wirth’s Simtek Research, where he developed simulation software for secret BMW F1 project that never happened. This ultimately became the Simtek F1 team and after that closed down in 1995 Chester moved on to TWR Arrows to work in research and development and extended the team’s simulation capabilities before becoming a chassis performance engineer with Pedro Diniz in 1997.
I remember at the time being told that I should keep an eye on him as he would be going places.
In 1998 he became Mika Salo’s race engineer. The team was soon running out of cash and when it closed down he moved to the Benetton team where he engineered Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella before becoming head of vehicle performance in 2005. He later moved up to being head of Performance Systems and in April last year was appointed Engineering Director.
Damn, according to Andrew Benson tweet Allison won't be joining RedBull. He has on offer for McLaren but his most likely destination is Ferrari! " title="gaah" />
ZitatCraig Scarborough @ScarbsF1 3m So James Allison is leaving Lotus, but I hear he isn't going to Mac, Red Bull or Mercedes. Plus Ferrari have denied he's joining them
ZitatCraig Scarborough @ScarbsF1 3m So James Allison is leaving Lotus, but I hear he isn't going to Mac, Red Bull or Mercedes. Plus Ferrari have denied he's joining them
So where is he going
That is quite strange then. But he must be going somewhere.
ZitatLotus confirms Allison out, Chester promoted Lotus has confirmed earlier speculation that James Allison is leaving the team. He will be replaced by erstwhile engineering director Nick Chester.
There is no indication yet as to where Allison might be heading (see previous story).
“Nick is well known to everyone at Enstone having been with the team for over twelve years,” said team principal Eric Boullier. “He is already directly involved with this and next year’s cars, ensuring a smooth transition which has been underway for some time. It’s an illustration of the strength and breadth of talent at Enstone that we can draw on personnel of the calibre of Nick and it’s something of an Enstone tradition for new Technical Directors to be promoted from within.
“He assumes his new position at a tremendously exciting time for the sport. The 2014 technical regulation changes present many challenges, while our current position of second place in both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships mean we cannot lose sight of this year’s development battle. Nick really has his work cut out, but we know he is more than capable of handling the tasks ahead.”
He added: “As a team and individually, we would all like to thank James Allison for his efforts during his three stints at Enstone and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
Meanwhile Chester said: “I have worked at Enstone for over twelve years and am delighted to take on the role of Technical Director. I am grateful to the management at Enstone for the faith they have in promoting me to this position. I am very aware of our need to keep pushing development of this year’s E21 whilst developing next year’s car to a set of very different regulations. There are some exciting times ahead for Enstone and I’m honoured to be part of it.”
if i say i'm not deeply disappointed i wont be saying the truth. but this is how things are. i hope the new guy is as good as Allison. the thing that scares me is only that Allison was talking often about budget. the fact that he is leaving makes me fear that perhaps he realized he could not fulfill his own dreams there anymore. this thought scares me most as it would greatly affect KImi.
otherwise, life moves on, goodbye and lots of wishes to Mr Allison, many happy flights during his "gardening period" h" title="hih" /> he may even participate again in all those aerobatic competitions he missed the past years....
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Wed May 08, 2013 10:53 am
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