Alpine has confirmed the appointment of Formula 1 veteran Steve Nielsen as the team’s new Managing Director, as the Enstone squad looks to steady its leadership structure following a turbulent period of internal exits.

The highly respected figure returns to a frontline F1 team role after previously serving as the FIA’s Sporting Director and holding key positions across several teams during a near 40-year career in the sport.

His arrival marks a crucial step in Alpine’s bid to regain stability and clear performance direction after months of managerial reshuffling.

Since the departure of former Team Principal Oliver Oakes, Alpine has been operating without a permanent figurehead, with team advisor Flavio Briatore stepping in to fill the leadership gap.

Briatore has now brought in a familiar face, reuniting with former Benetton and Renault colleague Nielsen, who will take on a key operational role within the team.

Alpine confirmed that the 61-year-old will begin on 1 September and will oversee the day-to-day running of the French squad, reporting directly to Briatore.

Alongside Nielsen’s appointment, Alpine also confirmed other senior hires.

Kris Midgley will return to Enstone from Ferrari to become Head of Aerodynamic Development, having previously worked at the team between 2007 and 2013 before moving to Maranello, where he served as Principal Aerodynamicist.

Additionally, Guy Martin, former Head of Sponsorships Europe at Visa, has joined Alpine as Global Marketing Director.

READ MORE – Franco Colapinto told to ‘improve’ as Valtteri Bottas touted as Alpine F1 option

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Nicklas Nielsen reflected on “a good couple of weeks” after winning overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans followed by his first IMSA LMP2 victory at Watkins Glen.

Along with Lilou Wadoux – who became the first female winner since Katherine Legge (Laguna Seca 2018) – and Louis Perez Companc, the #88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca 07 trio took the LMP2 class win at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Six Hours of the Glen.

Nielsen said in a post-race press conference: “Yeah, I’m obviously very, very happy. I mean, it’s been a good week, a good couple of weeks I would say.

“Yeah, I’m happy to make my maiden win in IMSA, as well. Super competitive championship.

“… Obviously with the contact and then the fire in the car in [12H] Sebring, that didn’t really help us. But I’m really happy to bounce back here.

“Coming with a fresh victory from Le Mans obviously makes this even better.

“I think Lilou [Wadoux] said that Luis [Perez Companc] and I did a fantastic job, but she did a mega job as well.

“She was on track in very difficult conditions, and she managed that very well.

“I think it’s fully deserved that she finally got her victory, as well, here.”

Last Sunday’s Watkins Glen six-hour race was the third on the Endurance Cup calendar, and wet weather conditions played a significant part in surviving the final hour.

In a field of 13 LMP2s, two of the #88’s rivals were out early on. This included the sole Ligier JS P217 run by Sean Creech Motorsport retired early after a collision into a barrier, and the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 team who won both the Daytona 24 and Sebring 12 Hours.

After Perez Companc completed his 1-hour and 30-minute minimum drive-time during the start of the race, Wadoux took to the wheel running second at the three-hour point when there was a brief rain shower, but she navigated the situation on slicks as the track dried out again.

Prior to the red flag declared in the final hour, for heavy rain, Nielsen had just pitted the #88 for wet tyres as one of the teams opting for the grooved compound over the slicks.

The red flag came abruptly after a safety car period when several cars went off the circuit, aquaplaning on the slick compound as conditions became treacherous.

On the restart, prototypes and GTs were each given an opportunity to pit given that parc ferme rules applied during the red flag, which prompted almost all of the LMP2 field to refuel and, where applicable, switch to slicks.

The #88 crew were rewarded with a good pit stop to give Nielsen a comfortable gap in the LMP2 lead which he held to the end.

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One of Ferrari’s newest 24 Hours of Le Mans winners, Antonio Fuoco, said that a change in track conditions would have been tricky for Ferrari.

“I think if the track condition changed, and we went faster, [that] was tricky for us. But I think, honestly, [Nicklas] did an amazing job and managed it very well,” Fuoco told Motorsport Week after the race.

Nielsen, meanwhile, said he did a significant amount of fuel save in order to make the flag ahead of the #7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez.

“So it was a very tricky last stint, especially with the fuel saving and everything that was going on,” the Dane told reporters after the race.

Nielsen pitted on lap 280 to fix a problem with a door latch on the one of the doors to the #50 499P. This was also his last fuel stop; he did a 13-lap stint to finish the race, fuel saving to make the end.

He had Lopez chasing him down all stint, with the Argentinian pushing hard to catch him by the end of the race. However, in the end, the 40-year-old was 14 seconds short of Nielsen at the flag.

“I did quite a big amount of fuel save,” said the Dane. “Honestly, I didn’t really think about it because if we wanted to go for the win, we only had one option right to save fuel. So I didn’t really want to complain. I didn’t want to do anything. I just asked the team to give me an energy target per lap, and that was it.

“I had to follow that because otherwise, we would run out of energy. And I was really pushing right in the last hours of the race to to keep temperature in the tyres and obviously to maintain the gap to the to the Toyota behind,” he concluded.

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Former FIA Sporting Director Steve Nielsen has rejoined the Formula 1 organisation as a consultant after leaving his post with the governing body late last year.

Having joined the FIA in January 2023 as part of its wider restructuring, Nielsen resigned as the governing body’s Sporting Director in December after just 11 months in his role.

When appointed by the FIA, it was noted that the Briton would “be responsible for overseeing all sporting matters including the ongoing development of race control and the remote operations centre, as well as future updates to the sporting regulations.”

However, Nielsen was just one of several high-profile departures from the FIA following the conclusion of the 2023 season.

According to the BBC, Nielsen’s departure came as “the FIA was not willing to make the changes required” to make its operations fit for purpose.

Nielsen is a highly-respected figure in the F1 paddock, first entering the sport in the 1980s as a truck driver for a catering company before spells at Lotus, Tyrell, Benetton, Honda, Arrows, Caterham, Toro Rosso and Williams in predominantly management and sporting director capacities.

In 2017, he then joined F1 as sporting director becoming one of the first major hirings by Ross Brawn when Liberty Media took ownership of the sport.

Five years at F1 saw Nielsen involved in the development of the sporting regulations as well as operational responsibilities on race weekends.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Briton played an integral role in filling a heavily afflicted calendar, returning events to former venues such as Imola, Nurburgring and Istanbul while also seeing Mugello and Qatar host their maiden F1 races.

Having left the FIA at the end of December, Nielsen has gone on to create a consultancy business and has been spotted in the Bahrain paddock during pre-season testing having taken up a part-time role with F1 where he will perform similar duties as he did previously.

It is also believed that Nielsen will work with other clients as a consultant, including circuits.

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Steve Nielsen has resigned from his post as the FIA’s Sporting Director after spending less than one year in the role, reports have claimed.

According to the BBC, Nielsen has parted ways with the governing body as he felt that “the FIA was not willing to make the changes required” to make its operations fit for purpose.

Having spent five years as the Sporting Director of Formula 1, Nielsen joined the FIA in January 2023 as part of a wider restructuring where he was tasked with improving race management in the wake of a series of controversies in recent years.

Working closely with race director Niels Wittich, Nielsen headed the FIA’s overhaul of its race control and remote operations centre as well as guiding future changes to the sporting regulations.

It is understood that Nielsen’s departure was communicated to the FIA internally on December 21st although neither he nor the FIA have made an official comment on the matter as of yet.

Nielsen had been a well-respected figure in the F1 paddock for the past three decades, first entering the sport as a driver for catering group MSL Global before joining Lotus’ test team as a truck driver in 1986.

After a tenure as Lotus’ spares coordinator, he then made the switch to Tyrell in 1991 where he performed the same role before climbing the ranks to team manager, a role he would also perform at Honda and Arrows.

He then spent the best part of a decade as Sporting Director of Benetton through its morphing into Renault and latterly Lotus before spells at Caterham, Toro Rosso and Williams before taking up the role as F1’s Sporting Director in 2017.

Nielsen was welcomed into the FIA’s fold earlier this year by president Mohammed Ben Sulayem who at the time said: “We have dedicated a lot of time and effort to making significant, informed changes to our Formula 1 team to create the right structure with the right people to oversee the future regulation of the sport.

“By developing and empowering people within our organisation, as well as bringing in expertise and experience from the outside, I am confident that we are in the best position possible to move forward together with our partners at FOM and the Formula 1 teams.”

It has been suggested that the 59-year-old had grown frustrated with the FIA’s current approach to F1 governance which has seen Ben Sulayem come under scrutiny, most recently for the handling of a compliance investigation launched against Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff and his wife and F1 Academy director Susie Wolff.

The investigation was dropped two days after it was opened following a coordinated response from the remaining nine teams on the grid who all denied levelling such allegations.

Nielsen is the second senior figure to leave the FIA this month as it was revealed that the head of the FIA’s Commission for Women, Deborah Mayer, had also resigned from her post on December 13th.

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Nicklas Nielsen will continue as a Ferrari factory driver into the 2024 World Endurance Championship campaign, where the 499P Le Mans Hypercar will take on its second season.

The 26-year-old driver from Denmark will continue his seat at the Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar team into next year.

His affiliation with Ferrari and AF Corse stretches back since 2018, when he made the switch from single-seater competition into sports car racing.

After securing the Ferrari Challenge Europe 2018 title amongst other Ferrari commitments, Luzich Racing offered him a seat in the European Le Mans Series’ GTE class, as he later took the championship title with current Hypercar teammate Alessandro Pier Guidi – who drives the other #51 Ferrari 499P.

Since then, his relationship with Ferrari machinery and the AF Corse outfit was maintained, granting him two WEC GTE Am titles, an LMP2 Pro-Am title, and back-to-back GTE Am wins at Le Mans, before taking on the French classic in an Oreca 07 LMP2 car, and the 499P Hypercar earlier this year.

This year, he has been part of the #50 effort at the Ferrari Hypercar team, finishing third in the drivers’ standings with teammates Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina.

Nielsen said: “I’m very happy to have renewed my contract with Ferrari.

“I think we’ve had great seasons together, especially this year with the Hypercar, and I’m looking forward moving forward on this journey by continuing the development of the 499P ahead of the 2024 season.”

Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti, added: “Nicklas is a fast, young driver who grew up in the Ferrari family where, following victory in the one-make series, he has racked up at least one international title every season until 2022, before finishing third this year in the FIA WEC Drivers’ standings.

“We’re proud to renew his contract”.

As a factory driver, Nielsen resumes his position to be within easy reach for Ferrari’s other main endurance competitions, should they need to utilise his talent.

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The FIA has presented a revised structure of its Formula 1 operations with Steve Nielsen joining the governing body.

Nielsen, who has been Formula 1’s Sporting Director since Liberty Media’s takeover in 2017, will now hold the same title within the FIA’s Formula 1 structure.

Nielsen will oversee all sporting matters, including the ongoing development of Race Control and the Remote Operations Centre, as well as future updates to the Sporting Regulations.

Nielsen’s move to the FIA received the blessing of F1 chief Stefano Domenicali, who said “his skills and experience will assist the FIA in its ongoing efforts to improve their operations during race weekends.”

Nikolas Tombazis, who has spearheaded the FIA’s technical team since 2018, will take on the role of Single-Seater Director.

Reporting to him will be the Sporting, Technical, Financial and Strategy & Operations Directors.

Ex-McLaren technical boss Tim Goss will take on the role of Technical Director, a position previously held by Tombazis, having been his deputy since 2021.

Federico Lodi will become the Formula 1 Financial Director, having fronted the Financial Regulations team since its inception, while Francois Sicard will take on the newly-created role of Formula 1 Strategy & Operations Director.

Sicard will be responsible for long-term strategic planning and key trackside activities and logistics.

“We have dedicated a lot of time and effort to making significant, informed changes to our Formula 1 team to create the right structure with the right people to oversee the future regulation of the sport,” said FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

“By developing and empowering people within our organisation, as well as bringing in expertise and experience from the outside, I am confident that we are in the best position possible to move forward together with our partners at FOM and the Formula 1 teams.”

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