Lotus has announced that Nick Chester has been appointed Technical Director with immediate effect as James Allison heads for pastures new.

Allison leaves Enstone after working with the team since 2005 and previously from 1991-1992 and 1994-1999.

Chester has worked at Enstone since 2000, most recently as Engineering Director, and previously as Head of Performance Systems, Head of Vehicle Performance Group and Race Engineer.

Chester, who began his F1 career with the ill-fated Simtek team, subsequently joined Arrows in 1995 before joining Benetton in 2000.

"We are pleased to announce Nick Chester as our next Technical Director," said Eric Boullier. "Nick is well known to everyone at Enstone having been with the team for over twelve years. 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. 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."

"I have worked at Enstone for over twelve years and am delighted to take on the role of Technical Director," added Chester. "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."