James Allison (born 21 February 1968) is an English motorsport designer and engineer, best known for his accomplishments in Formula 1, where he is the chief technical officer of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team from July 2021.

Early life

Born in

Louth, Lincolnshire Louth () is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer map 283:Louth and Mablethorpe: (1:25 000): Louth serves as an important town for a large rural area of eastern Lincolnshire. Visitor a ...

, the son of former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

officer, Air Chief Marshal Sir John Allison, James was educated at Abingdon School and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

Career

Benetton, Larrousse, and Ferrari: 1991–2005

After graduating from Cambridge in 1991, Allison joined the aerodynamics department of the Benetton

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

team. After a couple of years at Benetton he moved to

Larrousse Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed La ...

as head of aerodynamics before returning to Benetton as head of aerodynamics in the mid-1990s. In 2000, he moved to Ferrari for five years.

Renault/Lotus: 2005–2013

Allison returned to Benetton (by then known as

Renault F1 The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...

) in the role of deputy technical director in 2005. In 2009 Allison became technical director. In 2011, Renault F1 became

Lotus Renault GP The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...

, before becoming Lotus F1 in 2012.

Return to Ferrari: 2013–2016

On 8 May 2013, Allison quit as Lotus F1 Team technical director to be replaced by Nick Chester. On 29 July 2013, Allison rejoined Ferrari as chassis technical director and then technical director until July 2016. On 27 July 2016, Allison quit as Scuderia Ferrari technical director following the death of his wife.

Mercedes AMG: 2017–2021

On 16 February 2017

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Mercedes-Benz, a brand of the Mercedes-Benz Group, has been involved in Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1954. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, which is based in Brackley, England, and possesses ...

announced that Allison was to join the team in the newly created role of technical director, following the departure of Paddy Lowe to

Williams Grand Prix Engineering Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Hea ...

Mercedes AMG & INEOS Britannia: 2021-present

In April 2021 Allison became Chief Technical Officer of Mercedes AMG. On 4 October 2021, it was announced that Allison would take on a new Chief Technical Officer role at Ineos Team UK Britannia America's Cup Team. This new role will position Allison as technical lead of

Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutiv ...

's campaign for the

37th America's Cup The 37th America's Cup will be raced between a yacht representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and a yacht representing the yacht club that wins the '' Challenger Selection Series'' ( Prada Cup). It will be held in Barcelona, Spain in ...

, with Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science partnering with their existing sailing and design teams, which include Ainslie, Giles Scott, and prominent naval architect and yacht designer Martin Fischer.

Formula One championships

Allison-designed cars have won the following Formula One World Constructors' Championships: *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

– Ferrari F1-2000 * 2001 – Ferrari F2001 * 2002 – Ferrari F2002 * 2003 – Ferrari F2003-GA * 2004 –

Ferrari F2004 The F2004 is a highly successful Formula One racing car that was used by Ferrari for the 2004 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Rory Byrne, Ignazio Lunetta, Aldo Costa, Marco Fainello, John Iley and James Allison with Ross Brawn ...

* 2005 – Renault R25 * 2006 –

Renault R26 The Renault R26 is a Formula One racing car, used by the Renault F1 team in the 2006 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Bob Bell, James Allison, Tim Densham and Dino Toso with Pat Symonds overseeing the design and production of th ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

–

Mercedes AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+ The Mercedes AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+ was a Mercedes-Benz Formula One racing car designed and developed under the direction of James Allison, Aldo Costa, Mark Ellis, John Owen, Loïc Serra, Mike Elliott, Jarrod Murphy and Eric Blandin to compe ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

–

Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ The Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ is a Formula One racing car designed and developed by Mercedes-Benz under the direction of James Allison, John Owen, Mike Elliott, Loïc Serra, Ashley Way, Emiliano Giangiulio, Jarrod Murphy, Eric Blandin a ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

–

Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance The Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team under the direction of James Allison, John Owen, Mike Elliott, Loïc Serra, Ashley Way, Emiliano Giangiulio, ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

–

Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance The Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance, commonly abbreviated as the Mercedes W12, was a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team under the direction of James Allison to compete in the 2021 Fo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, James Formula One designers Living people 1968 births Ferrari people People educated at Abingdon School Mercedes-Benz in Formula One Benetton Formula