James Allison, Technical Director of the Mercedes W16, still believes in the 2025 car. The goal? Further improving race pace
James Allison remains confident — and that’s perhaps encouraging, given McLaren’s overwhelming dominance so far. The team led by Zak Brown and Andrea Stella has been the standout force in 2025, taking five wins in six races, with only Max Verstappen breaking the streak in Suzuka. Nevertheless, it’s “reassuring” for the spectacle that there’s still a team willing to believe this season can turn around, with many suggesting the true shift may only come from Barcelona onwards.
It’s James Allison who’s throwing down the challenge to the Papaya squad from Woking. Formerly at Ferrari, from which he had a turbulent split in 2016, Allison is now the Technical Director at Mercedes and the mastermind behind the W16. Alongside another former Ferrari figure, Italian Simone Resta, the work Mercedes has done so far in 2025 is certainly praiseworthy, showing a significant performance leap compared to 2024. But how much further can the Silver Arrows improve?
Allison’s words: “Tyre overheating issue during the race”
Speaking to F1’s official channels and as reported by Motorsport.com, the Mercedes technical chief reflected after the Miami Grand Prix, where George Russell secured a strong podium finish:
“We weren’t able to deliver the pace we wanted. Right now, we have a good balance between front and rear in qualifying, which lets us extract strong performance from the tyres. But in the race, the tyres heat up more than we’d like, and that forces our drivers to reduce pace to manage temperatures”. “.
So what’s the main issue with the car? Allison explains:
“ “Our main focus has been on controlling race pace, trying to carry over the results we achieve on Saturdays into Sundays. The priority is managing tyre temperatures, which is a crucial factor in allowing the car to unleash its available pace”. “.
Then, on Kimi Antonelli, Allison adds: “Kimi hasn’t yet found the right compromise between those two aspects, but let’s not forget he’s only done a handful of races so far. I think the progress we’ve seen from him is really evident, and all these challenges represent important opportunities that he’s seizing to grow and improve for the coming seasons.”
Photo: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
