James Allison and Lotus, it's over

It's a hard blow! James Allison will look elsewhere. Lotus technical director F1 Team will resign from its position, the British team announced this Wednesday. The engineer would be about to join another team, without his name being specified. Rumors send him to Mercedes ou Ferrari to prepare for the transition to the new technical regulations, which come into force in 2014. At Lotus, Nick Chester, the current director of engineering, takes his place.

“We are delighted to announce Nick Chester as our next Technical Director”, explained Eric Boullier, Lotus team principal. “Nick is well known to everyone in enstone for being a member of the team for 12 years now. He is already involved with this year's car and next year's car, which will ensure a smooth transition that has been in the works for some time. He will take up his new role at an extremely exciting time for the sport. The 2014 technical regulations present many challenges, while our current second position in both the Teams and Drivers championships means we cannot afford to neglect the battle to develop this season. Nick will see his work increase tenfold, but we know he is more than capable of handling his future tasks. »

Former member of the Arrows team from 1995 to 1999 as a racing engineer, Nick Chester joined Benetton in 2000, still in the same position. He was promoted to head of pole performance in 2005, during the period Renault, before being named director of engineering last year. “I am grateful to management for the trust they have placed in me by appointing me to this position. I am very aware of our needs, that we must continue to push the development of this year's E21 while developing next year's car which meets very different regulations. It's going to be exciting and I'm honored to be a part of it.", recounted the new technical director of Lotus.

Eric Boullier also had a word for James Allison, who had been a member of the British team since 2005, after two stints from 1991 to 1992, then from 1994 to 1999. “On behalf of the team and also personally, we thank James Allison for his efforts during his time at Enstone, and we wish him the best for his future endeavours.”.