Mike Elliot is a top talent. He has won titles with Hamilton in two different teams when he was playing a large role in the aerodynamic concept of his cars. He also gave Lotus / Renault some competitive challengers.
People often credit MSC for Mercedes building winning cars but if you look at the pattern of Mike Elliot joining and the 2013 challenger being more of his work, you could argue he was a significant cog
in the Mercedes winning machine when it came to the car. After all, he was very much involved in the very fast McLaren’s in the early 2000’s when he helped Kimi challenge for some world titles with a very, very fast challenger. They didn’t need Michael then when working with Newey.
The 2013 Mercedes was very fast; it secured just shy of 50% of the poles that year. The Mercedes engine was a masterclass in the hybrid era but it wasn’t all the silver bullet. It wasn’t the only car using that engine. The regs had changed significantly since, and under Hamilton / Rosberg / Bottas, Mercedes challengers have clearly not needed MSC to be competitive. In fact, under Hamilton, as they developed the car more to his liking, they just got stronger as they did in 2020.
How much did Mercedes need James Allison to win? They were winning before him and They are still winning. I’m sure James Allison had great strengths that might make Mercedes technical team more susceptible to setbacks somewhere in some way without him being more closely involved but I don’t think they’ll be going slower without him. James had even hinted that he didn’t feel needed when he talked about his own ‘shelf life’
My question is, instead of things getting worse without James Allison, could things get
better under Mike Elliot’s greater leadership role?
in the Mercedes winning machine when it came to the car. After all, he was very much involved in the very fast McLaren’s in the early 2000’s when he helped Kimi challenge for some world titles with a very, very fast challenger. They didn’t need Michael then when working with Newey. 
