Red Bull Should Be Worried Now Mercedes Has Their Own Adrian Newey

While Newey is a rare and talented member of the grid, Mercedes' restructure could be worrying the Milton Keynes squad.

It was confirmed yesterday that Mercedes have restocked their armory in the form of James Allison. Allison, who will now be managing the development of the W14 going forward, will be exchanging roles with Mike Elliot who will now be the Constructor's chief technology officer. While changes may not come straight away, Red Bull should be shaking in their boots. 

The Milton Keynes squad has been dominating the ground effect era for over a year now, and while a lot of this can be put down to their two talented drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, I would lay the crown on the head of their famed CTO Adrian Newey 

Newey, who schooled alongside the likes of Jeremy Clarkson at Repton School in England, is an aerodynamics wizard who has no fewer than 10 Championship winning cars to his name. And when it was revealed that this era of Formula 1 would focus on ground effect aerodynamics, there was no doubt a smile as wide as Red Bull's current lead would appear on his face. 

The reason being: Newey wrote the book on ground effect. His university thesis encapsulated the subject, and there was simply no one that could challenge him on the grid. Until now, of course.

James Allison is Mercedes' wooden stake and string of garlic, and they're now placing him in a position to take on Newey. 

You see, Allison has a similar history to that of Newey. Beginning his career in 1991 after a Cambridge education, he joined Michael Schumacher at Benneton where he helped design his world championship cars before following him to Ferrari for one of the most successful stints of the Prancing Horse team's history. 

He then returned to Benneton-turned-Renault where he created another championship-winning car alongside, Bob Bell, before being promoted to technical director where he'd work with the likes of Kimi Raikonen. 

After a brief term at Ferrari he left F1 for personal reasons, but he returned in 2017 to Mercedes where he made history before moving to the CTO position in 2021. 

Now, Allison won't be a silver bullet for Mercedes. It will take upwards of a year to see his effects in real performance, but the change in management will be felt in months by the team, as well as the burst of confidence this move will undoubtedly create. 

Arguably, most important is the confidence Lewis Hamilton will have in Allison, with both men well-aligned in their objectives and design ideologies. And above everything, their joint will to bring another golden trophy back to the halls of the Mercedes HQ. 

There is only one Newey, and it's still true that his experience and knowledge is one of a kind. And it's not entirely fair to compare the two. But with Mercedes chief Toto Wolff restructuring the team to tackle the struggles they're facing, and Red Bull still facing their cost cap punishment, I have no doubt that they're starting to get a little hot under the collar. Not for 2023, but in 2024 they'll want to tighten their laces.