Steve Nielsen speaks on return to Enstone as Alpine F1 manager plus adds on situation with Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto.
After multiple roles at multiple teams which included stints with F1 and the FIA, Nielsen returned to Enstone to take over at Alpine team manager role under Flavio Briatore. He replaced Oliver Oakes, who left his job due to personal reasons and has since returned to his Hitech GP work.
The last time Nielsen worked at Enstone was when it ran as Benetton and only transitioned to Renault/Lotus Renault. It has been a long time for the Brit since his return and he sees it as returning to an old school with old bits still there, but with added transformation.
“It’s like going back to an old school,” said Nielsen. “Have you ever done that? You go back to an old school and bits of it are really familiar but a bit smaller than you remember. Bits of it are new. It’s been great to go back. They’ve made me feel very welcome. Some old familiar faces, lots of new faces, which is also good. But whilst I’ve been in the sport for this time I haven’t been at a team for eight years.
“So there’s a big part of me getting up to speed and picking up on what’s changed inside a racing team in the last eight years—and there’s an awful lot. Things like budget cap didn’t exist the last time I was part of a team. Now it does. And it’s really bizarre for me because I was on the other side of that at F1 in the early discussions, and then that was taken forward, implemented, and enforced by the FIA.
“So to now be on the receiving end of it is a whole new experience for me. A lot to learn on my side as well. Absolutely. It is. Of course it it. It’s a great place. There’s some fine talent there. What we put on the track at the moment doesn’t reflect the skills we have there and the facilities we have there, and it’s our job to turn that around. [And yeah] Flavio is the leader.
“I run Enstone and everything that comes with that. That’s how we go forward, and we’re clear internally about what those responsibilities are and how that’s carved up. That’s how we’re doing it,” summed up Nielsen, who will be hoping to be at Alpine for long-term after his predecessors have left the roles in short period of time of joining.
Alpine is eyeing big change when they become a customer F1 team role after partnering with Mercedes and moving away from being a factory outfit. They will have Pierre Gasly to lead the cause, but his teammate remains a question mark, with Franco Colapinto in competition with Paul Aron.
Colapinto has improved in the last few rounds, but no decision has been taken yet, with Jack Doohan still part of Alpine scheme things as well. The Australian was replaced by the Argentine after first handful of rounds. “I think it’s difficult for any of the new drivers coming in,” said Nielsen.
“We’ve seen ebb and flow in lots of them that have come from F2—five came from F2 last year, which is good. Franco had a difficult start. I think we’ve seen that equalise and calm down a little bit. He’s now had the measure of Pierre in the last two or three races. So he’s on a par with him, which is good. We don’t know where that slope will end—whether it’s going to continue. We hope it does.
“And then we’ll make our decision on Franco and whoever else is in the frame when we have to. But we’re a few races away from that yet. [And] Jack is still part of our programme. He drove for us the first few races of the season. We made a change. Franco is now in the car. We constantly assess our options. As I said at the beginning, we’ll make decisions when we have to, but I can’t give you an update on if or when he will drive again,” summed up Nielsen.
Williams chief James Vowles is not interested in Doohan’s services for now as they tackle their own driver academy. “From our side, as far as we’re aware, Jack is contracted to Alpine,” he said. “We have our own young driver programme—we’ve got Luke, who’s second in the [F2] championship. And for me, as we did with Franco as well, it’s about developing our own internal structure and drivers.”
Here’s Franco Colapinto on Nico Hulkenberg spin
