The newly appointed executive broke his silence after taking office in Enstone and made it clear that the team's priority will be to invest in the upcoming season
Finally, he expressed his happiness to be back: "It's great to be back, it's a privilege to return here at this late stage of my career. This is my home, the largest part of my professional career has been here, I suppose my greatest successes as well."
The executive knows the recipe for success firsthand. He was Renault's sporting director during Fernando Alonso's golden years, when the team won the 2005 and 2006 titles. At that time, Nielsen was in charge of daily operations while Briatore was the public face. Two decades later, both meet again with the hope of returning the team to prominence.
Meanwhile, the immediate mission will be to give Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto a more competitive car. The challenge is not simple, but Nielsen is confident that the path of patience and planning can bring Alpine back to the fight for podiums and victories.
Steve Nielsen, who was announced as the new director of Alpine at the beginning of July following Oliver Oakes's departure, only began to leave his mark at the Enstone factory this September. The Briton, with eight seasons in the executive leadership of Formula 1 and a successful history at Renault, acknowledged that the team's current situation doesn't inspire optimism, but he is committed to a rebuilding project.
"You have to keep an eye on the future, we have to sacrifice short-term success to invest in the future and that's what we're going through right now," Nielsen admitted in his first public statements, in line with what Flavio Briatore had already indicated: the 2025 season is practically lost.
Meanwhile, despite the difficult moment, he acknowledged the team's strengths: "We have great facilities in Enstone, but the product we put on track doesn't reflect all the effort of the people we have here or the facilities." "My top priority is to make sure Enstone produces the best car we can," he added.
