It seems that Steve Nielsen is Briatore’s main candidate to become the new team principal of Alpine.
The situation at Alpine has been turbulent at the start of this season. The car has not fully convinced, leaving the team last in the Constructors’ Championship standings. On top of that, there was upheaval after the Miami Grand Prix. Oliver Oakes, the former Team Principal of the French team, stepped away from the role. It later emerged that his departure could be linked to some illegal business involving his brother. After this turmoil, Briatore temporarily took on the role of Team Principal while waiting to learn the name of the next leader of Alpine. That name now seems to have been chosen.
Who is the new pick?
As exclusively reported by Motorsport.com, the choice fell on Steve Nielsen. A longtime acquaintance of Flavio Briatore’s, who had already worked with him at Benetton. The British manager, the new pick for the role of Alpine team principal, has been involved in F1 since 1986. He started as a truck driver transporting catering. He has worked with major teams such as Lotus and Tyrrell, and more recently with Toro Rosso and Williams. In recent years, he worked closely with the Federation, first as Sporting Director and then joining the FIA two years ago.
We will see when the official announcement arrives, also confirmed by Autosport. Perhaps they will want to use tonight’s race media window to confirm it, and we might even see him inside the Alpine garage. What the French team definitely needs is a change of pace after the work done in these first races, which has yielded only a last-place position in the Constructors’ Championship. The potential in the team exists both at the management level, see Flavio Briatore, and on the sporting side, see Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto — it just needs to be harnessed. We will see what Nielsen will bring to the team.
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