Steve Nielsen is a candidate for the post of head of Alpine

      After the Miami Grand Prix, Oliver Oakes resigned as Alpine team principal for personal reasons. Flavio Briatore took over his duties temporarily, but Alpine continues to look for a permanent replacement for Oakes.

      During the Barcelona race weekend, Briatore held talks with Steve Nielsen, who was offered a senior position at the Enstone team.

      It is assumed that if the parties agree, Nielsen's position will be called something other than "team leader", but in fact he will have all the powers and responsibilities of a team leader. For example, it was in 2021, when Alpine was headed by Marcin Budkowski, but formally he had the position of executive director.

      Steve Nielsen, who turns 61 in July, has extensive experience in Formula 1. He started his career in the championship back in the 1980s, held various positions at Lotus, Benetton, Tyrell, Honda, Arrows, Caterham, Toro Rosso, Williams, but was Renault's sports director for the longest time in the 2000s.

      Since 2024, Steve Nielsen has been working as a consultant for Formula 1. He took up this role after leaving the position of FIA Sports Director.