Allison rumours 'a lack of respect' - Arrivabene

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Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says rumours over technical director James Allison's future show "a lack of respect".

Allison has been linked with a move back to former team Renault, having left Enstone to join Ferrari - also for a second stint - in 2013. Renault is currently on a recruitment drive after returning to F1 as a constructor this year, taking over the struggling Lotus team.

Allison lost his wife Rebecca to meningitis in March, and a report suggested family reasons could influence any decision over his future. However, Arrivabene says Allison has not been approached by another team and criticised the rumours following a tough personal spell.

"The only comment is that it is absolutely not true," Arrivabene said when asked if Allison had been offered a move back to the UK by another team. "James is our technical director.

"He went through... [a difficult period after the death of his wife], which I don’t wish on anybody to go through a period like James went through. We are all around him and he is with us, which is the most important thing.

"So, talking about him in that way over the last few days, it is a lack of respect, I think. I am sorry to say so."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.