Hamilton says Allison return to front line 'great for the team'

Lewis Hamilton has given two thumbs up to Mercedes' decision to bring senior engineer James Allison back to the front line in a bid to return the Brackley squad back to the front of the grid.

Mercedes has made undeniable progress this season compared to last year's troubled campaign during which it struggled to get a grip on the innovative but problematic zero sidepod aerodynamics of its W13 silver arrow.

Mercedes has devised a development programme that should eventually boost the performance of its 2023 car later this season. But the team's longer term view has led it to make a significant change to its engineering department.

Allison has swapped positions with technical director Mike Elliott who has assumed his colleague's previous role of chief technology officer, a move that will allow both men to better use their natural abilities and specific skills for the benefit of Mercedes' recovery.

For Hamilton, the change was great news for the former championship winning team.

"Well, James has always been a part of the team," he said. "Obviously, he was focused a little bit on another area before.

"I think having him step back in a little bit to support and work alongside Mike is only going to strengthen the team going forward.

"He’s obviously got an amazing amount of experience so I think, moving forwards, it’s just going to be great for the team – particularly with all the things we want to achieve, not only on track but off-track as well."

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• Allison: Red Bull a 'worthy opposition to hunt down and overtake'

Hamilton conquered his first podium of the season in Australia last time out where he finished runner-up to winner Max Verstappen.

And the Briton is confident that Mercedes will be "in the mix" this weekend in Baku, although he admitted that repeating his Melbourne performance will be hard.

"I’m as confident as I can be I guess," said Hamilton. "A lot of work has been done in the background. I think the last race was really great for us. We worked really hard to get that result.

"I don’t think it will be easy to do again; the Ferraris will be quick, the Red Bulls will be quick – the Astons will be quick as well. So, I hope that we’re just in the mix, I hope that we get to battle with them.

"This is an amazing event for us to do that, particularly with the shake-up of the weekend. It’s probably the most exciting weekend so far this year. We’ll see how it turns out."

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