29/06/2021
NEWS STORY
James Allison says there will be updates to the W12 this season, insisting that his comments are not at odds with those made by team boss, Toto Wolff.
From Thursday, Allison will assume the newly created role of chief technical officer, however, speaking to the official F1 website's F1 Nation podcast in his current capacity as technical director, the Briton suggests that, contrary to what others are saying, the Mercedes will be updated in a bid to claim both titles.
"We have a reasonable number of things that are going to make our car faster in the coming races," says Allison. "Let's hope they prove sufficient."
Asked if this is at odds with what Toto Wolff has been saying, he replies: "I don't think those two things are at odds with each other. I don't think Toto has said precisely that.
"What Toto points out is that next year's rules are a big and hairy affair and they demand a huge amount of our attention," he continues, "so most of the focus of our factory has switched over to the performance discovery for next year. But that doesn't mean that there aren't things still in the food chain from prior to that focus switch.
"Furthermore it isn't all of the factory," he adds, "and furthermore, we are only one of two factories, there's also the PU factory and there is a little bit more to come from the PU.
"So there's some more aerodynamic change in the offing, a little bit of PU, we hope, on the delivery side and just a few things that are not quite as tidy as we would wish that we still have an opportunity to put right while this season is still very much alive and hot."
Other than updates to the car and power unit, Allison stresses the important role world champion, Lewis Hamilton will play as the season unfolds.
"Ever since the rule changes that were introduced aerodynamically for looking after the tyres, we have found it hellishly hard to find the sort of performance gain rate that we found previously prior to those rules.
"(Lewis) wants to be driving a car that allows him to showcase his skill, "he continues, "but he's absolutely brilliant for us in these circumstances because he's so focused on winning and on championships that his response to a situation like this is just to redouble his own contribution.
"He was in our factory running a lot of simulator laps last week and he is as committed as anybody in making sure that we find the edge that we need to, to be able to put pressure on the Red Bull in front and I think you see him at his absolute best."