Steven Nielsen asks for patience and common sense from Alpine after host of changes made at F1 team prior to him in a space of few years.
After multiple changes made by the Renault management at Alpine, whether it is related to team principal or senior people in the technical team, the new hiring Nielsen has asked for patience and common sense from the French manufacturer’s management for the time being.
Nielsen made his return to Enstone last year to lead the charge alongside Flavio Briatore. He replaced Oliver Oakes, who didn’t last long wither in the role and has since returned to his former role of leading the Hitech GP team in the various feeder championships.
With Alpine switching to customer mode from F1 2026 after inking a deal with Mercedes, it will be Nielsen’s first full season in charge of the outfit. A lot is expected from the French outfit after they decided to sacrifice its 2025 season to have a better chance in the new regulations.
It can be a hit and miss still, no matter how much they have invested in it. But for the time being, Nielsen wants time to get things sorted as he knows that everyone will need time to understand the regulations. “I mean, it’s a cliché, but it’s a racing team,” he said upon his return.
“It’s full of people with racing spirit. It’s had mixed results recently, but I think there’s a passion and a will to put it back to where it has been in the past. The dedication is huge, from the top to the bottom of the company. It’s my job to coordinate that, strengthen the areas that are good, re-strengthen the areas where we are weak, and bring some common sense and consistency to the management.
“There’s been too many changes over the last few years at Enstone. I don’t criticise any of my predecessors, but it’s time for patience, common sense, and consistency. We want the team to be better, and patience and Formula 1 don’t go well together, but that’s the task. We have to spend the next few years building, and it’s a slow, grinding process. It’s F1 – there are no magic bullets.
“You just have to fix a million details – in place, people. More than anything, it’s a people business. So, I’ve kind of relearned that lesson, if you like,” summed up Nielsen, who noted that there’s host of work undergoing at Enstone to be ready for F1 2026. Already towards the end of 2025, Alpine were on the job to prepare for the new season, with only a month’s time for testing.
It was a new challenge for him to see a new car prepared already in December when the old season was in its ending stages and they still had to go through the mandated winter shutdown. “Well, you have to forward plan,” continued Nielsen. “You can’t wait till the chequered flag and then decide what you’re going to do.
“So, we’ve been looking at that sort of stuff – staff rotation and so on – months out, in order to make sure that we’ve got the workforce available to build cars and go testing. We’re building 2026 car in December. I’ve never known that before. So it’s a completely different way of looking at it. But that work and scheduling starts months before.
“Probably like all the other teams, Enstone’s a hive of activity. If you go in all the departments, all you’ll see is parts for 2026 car – chassis and gearboxes and all sorts of stuff. I think we’re about to go into what is, certainly in my memory, one of the shortest winter breaks. Somebody told me that from the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi to the first time our car goes on the track is 36 days, and that includes the compulsory winter shutdown.
“So, work that would normally have taken place over two or three months has been compressed into literally four weeks. The overlap between finishing racing in 2025 and producing the 2026 car is massive. We are racing here this year, but Enstone is completely on 2026 and has been for some time,” summed up Nielsen.
Here’s Alpine Mercedes fire-up: https://x.com/AlpineF1Team/status/2008146293542318332?s=20
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