Lotus appoints Nick Chester as James Allison's replacement

AUTOSPORT revealed earlier on Wednesday morning that Allison had decided to leave the squad, and that Chester would be promoted to fill the vacancy.

Team boss Eric Boullier said promoting Chester from his current role as engineering director would minimise the ripples caused by Allison's exit.

"Nick is well known to everyone at Enstone having been with the team for over 12 years," said Boullier.

"He is already directly involved with this and next year's cars, ensuring a smooth transition which has been underway for some time.

"It's an illustration of the strength and breadth of talent at Enstone that we can draw on personnel of the calibre of Nick and it's something of an Enstone tradition for new technical directors to be promoted from within.

"He assumes his new position at a tremendously exciting time for the sport. The 2014 technical regulation changes present many challenges, while our current position of second place in both the constructors' and drivers' world championships mean we cannot lose sight of this year's development battle.

"Nick really has his work cut out, but we know he is more than capable of handling the tasks ahead."

Boullier also paid tribute to Allison's contribution to the team.

"As a team and individually, we would all like to thank James Allison for his efforts during his three stints at Enstone and wish him all the best in his future endeavours," he said.

NICK CHESTER CV

1995: Joins the Arrows team as a race engineer

2000: Switches to Benetton as a race engineer

2005: Promoted to head of vehicle performance group.

2010: Becomes head of performance systems.

2012: Appointed engineering director of Lotus.

AUTOSPORT SAYS
Edd Straw, F1 editor
@EddStrawF1

The loss of technical director James Allison is a serious blow to Lotus, but it comes as no surprise.

He has been the subject of interest from several major teams, notably Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, of late and came close to leaving the team several months ago.

Then, he turned down significantly more lucrative offers to stay at Enstone having been convinced that the team did have the necessary resources to continue to be competitive. Largely, this was down to his loyalty to a team that he has worked for on and off since 1991. But rivals have continued to pursue him.

In Allison, Lotus has lost a key player. Since being promoted to technical director ahead of the 2010 season, he has overseen the team's re-emergence as a race-winning and perhaps even title-challenging force, with his intelligence and expertise doubly effective thanks to a formidable work ethic that stands out even by F1 standards.

It is impossible to say what effect his departure will have on Lotus. As far as 2013 is concerned, he will already have played a key role in the development parts scheduled to be bolted onto the nimble Lotus E21 over the next few months, so the real question is what it means for the future, particularly with the new engine formula coming in for 2014.

On the positive side, Lotus is promoting from within rather than poaching from another team, meaning the technical department that he led so effectively will remain largely intact.

Fortunately, it is far from a one-man show, with some very highly-rated staff, including Allison's replacement Nick Chester and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer among the key factory-based technical personnel.

The key now is for Lotus to ensure that the transition is as seamless as possible.