Allison takes break after death of wife

James Allison is spending some time away from formula one as he mourns the recent death of his wife, it has emerged.

On his wife Rebecca’s Facebook page, the 48-year-old Briton confirmed to friends and family last week that she died suddenly from meningitis.

"We at Ferrari are united with him and his family during this period of profound sorrow," said Ferrari, where Allison is the technical director.

Speed Week, a German-language publication, claims that following Rebecca’s death, Allison returned home to Britain. Normally, he commutes between Britain, where his wife lived with their three children, and his work in Italy.

"From Italy, we hear that to Ferrari’s credit, James Allison has been given total freedom to organise his life anew," said correspondent Mathias Brunner.

"Nobody knows when he will return to the race tracks again," he added.

But we reported in February that Allison actually did not plan to travel to all the grands prix in 2016, after Ferrari signed up Jock Clear to head track operations.