Lewis Hamilton loses key Mercedes ally as resignation announced in bitter blow for F1 star
F1 star Lewis Hamilton has lost a key ally at Mercedes
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Lewis Hamilton has suffered a blow with Mercedes chief technical officer Mike Elliot resigning from his role.
He previously joined the Silver Arrows in 2012 as head of aerodynamics and has risen through the ranks at the constructor in the years since.
The 49-year-old was a key figure during Hamilton's dominant years in the sport
He helped the Brit secure eight triumphs from 2014 to 2022.
Mercedes chief Mike Elliot has announced his resignation from the F1 side
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But, just six months after returning to Brackley HQ, Elliot has now announced his resignation.
A long-term ally of Hamilton, the Brit will be hoping he can strike up a similarly positive relationship with any successor.
Elliot's relationship with the Stevenage-born racer actually predates their work at Mercedes together.
The former Silver Arrows chief used to work at McLaren as an aerodynamicist.
The pair were together as Hamilton competed in his first F1 season back in 2007, as well as the Brit's stunning triumph the following year.
Reacting to his departure, Elliot said: "It has been one of the great privileges of my career to be part of this Mercedes team.
"During the past six months, I have enjoyed developing the technical strategy that we hope can provide the foundations of the team’s next cycle of success."
Elliot will now serve a period of gardening leave.
It is unclear what the 49-year-old will do now his long stint at Mercedes is finally over.
Elliot's decision to leave his post comes at a time when Red Bull are very much the sport's dominant force.
Hamilton has closed the gap in recent weeks and finished second at the Mexican Grand Prix over the weekend.
But it'll take some doing to beat Max Verstappen, who has won 16 races so far.
Hamilton doesn't think the Red Bull star will stop there, either, and thinks he'll add to that tally by the time the campaign draws to a close.
"It definitely gives us a lot of confidence," said the 38-year-old when asked about Mercedes' improved displays.
"I mean, last year, at the same time, we were doing the same thing, but last year, I think we were three-tenths behind Max in qualifying or something like that and I came second, but he walked off with the win.
"So we're really just mirroring what we did last year, so we have to make some real big changes for next year.
"Obviously in Bahrain earlier this year, they were 1.5s a lap faster than us, at least, so the key is to make sure that is not the case in Bahrain [for the 2024 season opener].
"Hopefully, these next couple of races will be close, but I'd probably put money on it that [Max] will get to 18, 19 [wins] with that car."
Reacting to Hamilton's performance in Mexico on Sunday, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff stated: “Today I think it was a first where he said ‘the car is actually good!’
"But it was a brilliant, brilliant drive and we have these oscillations in performance.
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Lewis Hamilton's relationship with Mike Elliot dates back to their time at McLaren
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"We don’t really know, sometimes the tyres stick, sometimes not.
“The smiles on our faces because the car was strong. I think once Lewis was in free air, we had so much margin on the medium, fastest lap at the end. It was good.”