Alpine's Formula 1 team has announced two major signings in senior roles relating to the running of the team and its aerodynamic development respectively.
Having been reported as the leading contender by The Race last week, Steve Nielsen will join on September 1 as Alpine's new managing director to oversee the "day-to-day running of the team at Enstone", Alpine's F1 base.
This is in part replacing some of the responsibilities held by former team principal Oliver Oakes before his sudden resignation in May. Flavio Briatore continues to lead the F1 team overall.
Nielsen, a very well-respected figure in the F1 paddock who joins from the F1 organisation itself, has worked for multiple teams including Briatore's Benetton and Renault operations in Team Enstone's past life.
He was sporting director when Renault won the 2005 and 2006 championships.
The appointment brings an end to Alpine's search for a leadership figure who could slot in between Briatore and senior race team figures/the Enstone management team.
While Briatore assumed more responsibilities as Alpine's F1 de facto team principal, Nielsen's arrival in a different role means that position will not be directly replaced post-Oakes.
It remains to be seen exactly how the running of the team will be divided up across Enstone and the track, but Nielsen will have a trackside presence too.
Alpine hopes this will bring stability to a team that has had a string of senior leadership changes in recent years. Since Renault rebranded the works entry in 2021, it has cycled through a range of structures - no named team principal that year, before Otmar Szafnauer, Bruno Famin and Oakes all had stints in charge.
Now it returns to having no official team principal although the responsibilities will be shared across Briatore and Nielsen, and to an extent in the interim Dave Greenwood, Alpine's racing director who for now continues to be the official team representative on-site "for administrative purposes with all relevant stakeholders".
Along with Nielsen, though, Alpine has also announced the recruitment of Kris Midgley as head of aerodynamic development.
While Midgley, another ex-Enstone face being brought back into the fold, is not at the very top of the technical tree, it is a significant appointment given the team's backwards step this season and the looming 2026 technical regulations.
Midgley previously worked at Ferrari as principal aerodynamicist, and will report to Alpine's executive technical director David Sanchez - also previously at Ferrari.
Alpine says it bolsters the technical department "ahead of the vast opportunities that present themselves for the new regulation era in 2026".
Guy Martin has also joined from Visa as global marketing director.
