Allison, who joined the team at the start of 2017, is to become Mercedes’ chief technical officer from 1 July, and will take charge of longer term strategic planning.

His change of position has opened the door for current technology director Mike Elliott to step up into the technical director role.

Elliott, who has previously worked at Renault and McLaren, originally joined Mercedes in 2012 as head of aerodynamics before moving into his current position in 2017.

Mercedes is clear that the change has come about as part of its longer term thinking ahead of the 2022 rules revolution, rather than being anything related to the performance of its current car.

Team boss Toto Wolff said that the team was happy to keep Allison on board with his tenure as technical director due to come to an end this year.

“Since joining Mercedes in 2017, James has been an exceptional technical leader for our team, and he has made an enormous contribution to our performance: he combines huge passion and determination with detailed expertise and exceptional moral character,” he said.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes AMG, and James Allison, Technical Director, Mercedes AMG

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“We have known for a while that his time as technical director would be coming to an end this year and I am delighted that we have been able to shape this new role to keep him within our motorsport family.

“He will be an important sparring partner for me in the next years and I know that we still have much to achieve together.”

Allison said he felt that it was the right time for him to move into a new position, rather than stay on and prevent others being able to grow.

“I firmly believe that people have a shelf life in senior roles in this sport, and I have chosen to step away from my role as technical director in order to pass on the baton at the right time for the organisation and myself,” he explained.

“I have enjoyed four and a half wonderful years as technical director, and it has been a special privilege to lead the technical effort of the team in that time.”

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced a four-month delay to the start of the 2020 season, F1 drivers were left to busy themselves with outside pursuits.

Most opted to keep some kind of involvement in motorsport by engaging in Esports, with the likes of Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, George Russell and Alexander Albon all competing in virtual racing events.

But then-Ferrari driver Vettel kept a low profile through lockdown, and has now revealed that he completed an internship in organic farming to learn more about agriculture.

Vettel has previously spoken about his interest in nature and farming, and was unveiled as an ambassador for the BioBienenApfel initiative this week that looks to protect habitats for insects.

“Since I had more time than I had actually planned, I thought about what I could do and what interested me,” Aston Martin driver Vettel explained, revealing that he moved to learn more practical farming skills.

“That’s what interests me. At some point you realise that not every vegetable is the same, not every apple has the same nutrients, and then you ask why.

“Then you realise very quickly where the apple comes from and how it is grown – and that’s how the doors opened for me.

“The theory interests me and I read about it a lot. But to learn more from the practical side and talk to the people who deal with it on a day-to-day basis, that was very interesting.”

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21, pulls away after a pit stop

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Vettel explained how he wanted to plant a meadow for his young daughters at their home in Switzerland in the shape of a love heart.

“Since I didn’t want to settle for a small heart, I then staked out the heart a bit bigger,” Vettel said.

“The girls were there at the beginning, but then I was alone with the spade and that was very exhausting.

“Last year, a little bit came up, but I’m looking forward to seeing more sprouts this year.”

Vettel is not the only F1 world champion to have shown an interest in organic farming and cultivation. 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter has owned a biodynamic farm in the UK for close to 15 years.

But Vettel dismissed the idea that he would have a second career in farming, saying it was “still far away, of course”.

The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters is the first of three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments played on clay. Held at the picturesque Monte-Carlo Country Club, the event has a long tradition of great champions, led by Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who has won 11 titles at the event, including an Open Era record eight straight between 2005-2012.

Nadal will open his 2021 clay-court campaign in Monte-Carlo, and is joined in the field by past champions Novak Djokovic (2013 & 2015) and Fabio Fognini (2019), and the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev.

Here’s all you need to know about Monte-Carlo tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who won and more. 

Established: 1897

Tournament Dates: 11-18 April 2021

Tournament Director: Zeljko Franulovic

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 9 April, 6:30pm at Monte Carlo Bay

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: 10-11 April from 11am
* Main draw: Sunday, 11 April – Saturday, 17 April from 11am, Sunday, 18 April at 12 noon
* Doubles final: Sunday, 18 April at 12 noon
* Singles final: Sunday, 18 April at 2:30pm 

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
View TV Schedule

Venue: Monte-Carlo Country Club
Surface: Clay

Prize Money: € 2,082,960 (Total Financial Commitment: € 2,460,585)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Rafael Nadal (11)
Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan (6)
Oldest Champion: Nicola Pietrangeli, 34, in 1968
Youngest Champion: Mats Wilander, 18, in 1983
Highest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 1 Bjorn Borg in 1979-80, Ivan Lendl in 1988, Rafael Nadal in 2009, ’11 & ‘18, Novak Djokovic in 2013 & ‘15
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 49 Andrew Pattison in 1974
Most Match Wins: Rafael Nadal (71)

2019 Finals
Singles: [13] Fabio Fognini (ITA) d Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 63 64   Read & Watch
Doubles: [7] Nikola Mektic (CRO) / Franko Skugor (CRO) d Robin Haase (NED) / Wesley Koolhof (NED) 67(3) 76(3) 11-9  Read & Watch 

Social
Hashtag: #rolexmcmasters
Facebook: @rolexmcmasters
Twitter: @ROLEXMCMASTERS
Instagram: @rolexmontecarlomasters

Did You Know…  The annual Player Revue takes place during the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Stars of the ATP Tour set aside their inhibitions to entertain their friends, family and fellow players in a series of sketches, poking good-humoured fun at life on tour and showing off their singing and dancing talents. Unfortunately, in 2021, due to COVID-19, the Player Revue will not take place. Take a look back at past Player Revues: 2018 | 2017 | 2016

Bally Sports Ohio is airing the Reds-Pirates game (6:30 p.m.) and the Blue Jackets-Lightning game (7 p.m.)

The Japanese youngster marked himself out as a future star with a great showing at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

He set the second fastest time in Q1 and finished the race in ninth place, having pulled off a great overtaking move on Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on the final lap.

Tsunoda’s pace and the hype surrounding him has already prompted suggestions he could be in the frame to step up to the main Red Bull team from 2022.

However, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has urged caution about such talk, despite clearly believing that Tsunoda has a bright future.

Marko remains well aware of the fact that Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have all failed to reach their full potential at Red Bull after being promoted and there is a sense to not rush things this time.

In an exclusive interview with Autosport’s German language sister site Formel1.de, Marko praised the impact that Tsunoda had made but said Red Bull was ready to be patient.

“The way he goes about it, the way he makes the car fly [is fantastic],” Marko said about Tsunoda. “He’s also a charismatic, funny guy. We are very happy to have him.”

Asked about the prospect of a 2022 drive at Red Bull, he replied: “We’ve had the first of 23 races, so let’s see how things develop.

“We have an incredible rough diamond in Yuki. We’re not going to burn him. We will look at the development and then make our decisions in a timely manner.”

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT02 and Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

A move to Red Bull for Tsunoda would be bad news for Sergio Perez, who is currently on a one-year deal to drive for Red Bull this season.

The Mexican had a mixed weekend in Bahrain, after getting dumped out of qualifying in Q2 before recovering well in the race to take fifth place.

Marko said that in terms of race pace there were no concerns about Perez, but the key for him now was putting a lap together in qualifying.

“The race speed is on the same level as Verstappen,” said Marko. “When he was in free air, he set the same times, so, so far, so good. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like that in qualifying.

“The positive thing was that he lost most of his time in one turn, Turn 1. Already during testing, in sector three, he was faster than Max on average. The only issue is: you have to get the lap together.

“But we are convinced that he will get much closer to Max in qualifying as well.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHAq4KpNIYQ