Mercedes confirms Allison as technical director

Lowe, whose exit from Mercedes had been expected for months, is set to join the Williams team, but there has not been an officially announcement yet.

Lowe had occupied the role of executive director (technical) at the German squad and is expected to start working at Williams next month.

Allison was Ferrari's technical director until last year, but the Briton left the Maranello squad at the end of July.

He will join Mercedes at the start of March, the team said.

Allison will join the team in the newly-created role of technical director, and will report directly to Toto Wolff.

"I am very excited to be getting back to work after this time away from the sport," said Allison. "It's a massive privilege to be given the trust of a position in a team that has done so spectacularly well in the past three seasons.

"I am really looking forward to playing my part in helping Mercedes go from strength to strength in the coming years."

Wolff added: "I am delighted to welcome James to Mercedes and very much looking forward to working with him. Our technical team is extremely skilled at every level and at the top of its game after delivering three world championships in a row.

"It wasn't an easy task to find the right personality who can strengthen our experienced group of engineers, give our talented young team members the space to develop and also bring his own vision to this role.

"James is a sharp engineer; I think we have found the perfect guy and the right fit with our senior leaders."