Of British nationality, Nielsen was FIA sporting director for 11 months and had previously worked as a team principal. He is currently performing consultancy tasks within the governing body of the category.
Some specialized media outlets claimed that Flavio Briatore, interim director of the French team, had negotiated with the replacement for the Briton
Of British nationality, Nielsen was FIA sporting director for 11 months and had previously worked as a team principal. He is currently performing consultancy tasks within the governing body of the category.
His entry into Formula 1 dates back to 1986, when he joined the Lotus test team. At that team and also at Tyrrell, he was in charge of the spare parts department, later becoming assistant to the team manager in 1994.
Later, he worked at Benetton, where he coincided with Briatore, Tyrrell, Honda, and Arrows, until returning to Enstone in 2001 as Sporting Director. He held that role for a decade, until his departure in 2009, and then remained linked to that headquarters through the name changes that included Renault F1 and Lotus. In 2012 he moved to Caterham and then to Toro Rosso in 2013, finally joining Williams at the end of 2014 as sporting director.
Although his formal appointment as team principal still needs to be approved by the FIA, Nielsen's possible arrival would represent a bet on experience and a reconstruction strategy after Oakes's turbulent departure.
Alpine is going through a period of deep changes in Formula 1 following the unexpected resignation of Oliver Oakes, who left the position of team principal vacant. As a result, Flavio Briatore provisionally assumed the role of director, although it was clarified from the beginning that his position would not be permanent.
While there was talk of an alleged interest in Christian Horner, who currently has an uncertain future at Red Bull, the French team would have focused its attention on another profile: Steve Nielsen.
According to specialized sites PlanetF1 and GPBlog, Nielsen is the leading candidate to take control of the team, after ruling out alternatives such as Guenther Steiner and Otmar Szaffnauer. Conversations between him and Briatore would have taken place during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Montmeló.