The managing director of the Enstone team explains why Alpine ended up in last place in the Constructors’ standings. Steve Nielsen supported the decision to halt development of the A525 to channel every resource into the agile car that will debut in 2026 with the major regulation overhaul. He admitted: “We did not expect our rivals to be so effective in continuing to develop their cars, like Haas.”
Steve Nielsen certainly picked up a difficult challenge. The Alpine managing director has returned to running a Formula 1 team after spending several years as sporting director for FOM, the promoter that manages the Championship.
The 61-year-old from Bristol was convinced by Flavio Briatore to become the figure of order at the Enstone squad, a team he knows extremely well thanks to his previous experience at Benetton, Renault F1 and Lotus, the various incarnations of what is now the Alpine team.
The team currently sits last in the Constructors’ Championship with 22 points, despite an encouraging start to the 2025 season that built on a strong 2024 finale. Pierre Gasly reached Q3 three times in the first six Grands Prix, and in Bahrain he secured fifth on the grid and seventh at the finish.
Alpine began to lose ground after the decision to stop all development of the A525 at the French Grand Prix in early June, in order to dedicate full effort to creating the 2026 car for the revolutionary new rules coming next year. The Enstone squad will run Mercedes power units, which on paper should be more competitive than the now-discarded Renault engine.
Inside the team there had been an expectation that other midfield teams would also pause development, but several examples proved the opposite, including Haas, who continued to evolve their car with notable success.
It is therefore no surprise to see Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto slipping further down the grid, often towards the final row. Steve Nielsen explained: “In short, our main problem is that our car is not fast enough. Of course, there are a million reasons contributing to this situation, both at Enstone and at the track. Many of our problems come from the fact that the car we have put on track is simply not competitive enough, and we must build a better one for next year.”
He added: “I am sure we can make a real step forward, because it is no secret that we were one of the first teams to focus entirely on next year, preparing in time for the major technical changes ahead. The sooner you start a project, the sooner you can develop the new car once the season begins.”
Steve Nielsen was brought into Enstone in September and defended the strategic decision to focus every resource on the 2026 car, but he admitted they did not expect some direct rivals to continue developing their cars so late into the season.
“I think we made the right choice. But it is true, we were caught off guard by teams like Haas bringing another major aerodynamic upgrade in Austin. We did not expect it, but even so, we remain very clear about our mission and carry it forward with conviction.”
Given the development push from rivals, why did Alpine freeze work on the A525? Could they not work on two fronts at once? Steve Nielsen replied: “The answer is simple: we hoped to be a bit more competitive. I only hope that the difficulties we are experiencing now will be justified next year when we have a much more competitive car.”
He continued: “But to be clear, it makes no sense to develop two cars in parallel. The regulations allow the use of only one wind tunnel. Keeping the A525 in the tunnel would have meant stopping development of the 2026 car.”
“We could not work on both programmes because it would have been a very inefficient way of operating: removing one model and installing another wastes precious wind tunnel time. You lose hours and days recalibrating the wind tunnel. That is why we bet everything on next year. I will not hide that we expected to have a more competitive car, and we were caught out by how much our rivals continued to develop. We hope to show you in March that we made the correct choice, presenting a car that is significantly more advanced.”
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