Official confirmation that former Ferrari man James Allison is joining Mercedes as Technical Director on 1 March. No surprise there then. Technical Director is a newly created role.

Toto Wolff: “A sharp engineer and the right fit with our senior technical group.”

Allison has won world championships with both Ferrari and Renault, in addition to holding senior leadership roles in both teams. He will report directly to Toto Wolff who will have overall responsibility for running the team.

What you may have missed…

Williams says Dirk de Beer is to be its new head of aerodynamics, also joining the company on 1 March, and Ekrem Sami, the Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Marketing is leaving the company after 35 years. Sami was one of Ron Dennis’s closest allies throughout his tenure at McLaren, having started out with Dennis in the Project 4 days.