Ferrari’s Allison linked with Renault return

This year’s F1 ’silly season’ is not just about the drivers.

Italy’s authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport suggests that the Briton, who is Ferrari’s highly rated technical director, is eyeing a return to his native Britain.

The 48-year-old took an extended break recently following the shock death of his wife. Allison’s three children live in Britain, while the respected engineer travels between the UK and his factory-based role at Maranello.

La Gazzetta now claims that mainly due to his three grieving children, Allison could accept the advances of Renault and accept an offer to return to the Enstone team he left in 2013 when it was then known as Lotus.

Also recently linked with a potential move in the near future has been James Key, the highly-rated technical chief at Toro Rosso.

But he said: "I’ve got a contract with Toro Rosso for some time to come, and there’s a lot of work to do still. So I’m not thinking about anything else at the moment."