Allison may depart Ferrari and return to Renault

This year’s Formula 1 ‘silly season’ is not just about the drivers, it also includes the possible movements of key team personnel.

Italy’s authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport suggests that James Allison, who is Ferrari’s highly rated technical director, is eyeing a return to his native Britain.

The 48-year-old took an extended break recently following the shock death of his wife. Allison’s three children live in Britain, while the respected engineer travels between the UK and his factory-based role at Maranello.

La Gazzetta now claims that mainly due to his three grieving children, Allison could accept the advances of Renault and accept an offer to return to the Enstone team he left in 2013 when it was then known as Lotus.

Also recently linked with a potential move in the near future has been James Key, the highly-rated technical chief at Toro Rosso.

But he said: “I’ve got a contract with Toro Rosso for some time to come, and there’s a lot of work to do still. So I’m not thinking about anything else at the moment.”

In 1991 Allison joined the aerodynamics department of Benetton. In 1993 he moved to Larrousse as Head of Aerodynamics before returning to Benetton as Head of Aerodynamics in the mid-1990s

In 2000, he moved to Ferrari for five years, before returning to Renault (which had taken over the Benetton F1 operation) in 2005 as Deputy Technical Director.

In 2009 Allison became the team’s Technical Director. In 2011, Renault F1 became Lotus Renault GP before becoming Lotus F1 in 2012.

In July 2013 Allison returned to Ferrari as Chassis Technical Director.