Allison: Still room for innovation within current F1 ruleset

Mercedes Technical Director James Allison has said that whilst he thinks most Formula 1 teams will develop down “a similar sort of avenue, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for innovation at all” within the current set of regulations.

After two seasons in F1’s latest era of ground effect aerodynamics, Red Bull has emerged as the dominant force and clinched successive championship doubles.

The speed shown by the Milton Keynes-based squad has led to several teams trying to head down a similar development path with the ‘downwash’ sidepod concept.

It would appear then that Red Bull has struck the best design concept for everyone to follow, but Allison believes there’s still room to innovate amid the current technical regulations.

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“I think most people will be iterating down a similar sort of avenue,” he told Autosport. “But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for innovation at all.

“These cars, and it is no secret, run super-near the ground and that’s where they get their best performance.

“But there is also the ground there, so it is just trying to figure out how you can reliably, precisely and in an informed way, place the car at a point above the ground that you know will be survivable from a skid legality point of view, but will also give you every bit of downforce that the car is capable of offering.

“There is plenty of action there still!”

Mercedes figured it had struck a positive innovation when it debuted the W13 back in 2022, featuring an ambitious ‘zeropod’ design and narrow ride height operating window.

But having retained the solution last season after bagging a breakthrough win late the previous term, Mercedes made a mid-season switch to a more conventional design.

Allison has committed his long-term future to Mercedes as Technical Director and he appears to be excited about the challenge of bringing the Silver Arrows back to the front of F1.

The British engineer has claimed that chasing Red Bull is “fun” and is taking inspiration from how Mercedes’ rivals conducted themselves when it experienced a barren period.

The Mercedes W15 is said to have changed “every component” compared to its predecessor, backing up Allison’s claims to chase innovation and reflective of a major technical overhaul from 2023 to 2024.