Mike Elliott has been appointed as Alpine’s new Chief Technical Officer in Formula 1, after almost three years out of the championship.
Elliott, 52, was a senior figure within Mercedes’ aerodynamics team during its domination of Formula 1 in the late 2010s, having joined the manufacturer in 2012.
Elliott rose to become Technical Director in 2021, taking the role of James Allison, but his stint fronting the technical department was short-lived.
Mercedes struggled under the ground effect regulations and the “zero-pod” concept was fraught with setbacks, and eventually ditched.
Elliott and James Allison undertook a job swap in early 2023, seen as a demotion for Elliott, and after a few months as CTO, he left the team in October.
On Thursday Alpine announced the recruitment of Elliott, the second time he has been at the Enstone-based outfit, having been its Principal Aerodynamicist between 2008 and 2012.
He initially joined the team after spending eight years within the aerodynamics department at McLaren.
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Pierre Gasly at the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month. He started on pole.
In a statement, Alpine outlined that Elliott will “lead and oversee the technical and engineering functions at the team’s factory at Enstone.”
Alpine said Elliott’s presence “strengthens the team’s technical capabilities as the team looks to build on the improved performances on track and close the gap to the top four team.”
Alpine has rebounded from its annus horribilis of 2025, when it was last in the standings, and is locked in a close fight against Racing Bulls for fifth in the championship.
While it missed out on a podium finish in Monaco, owing to a contentious and protracted time penalty, Pierre Gasly claimed a shock maiden pole position in Italy—which was the team’s first in 17 years.
U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.