Alpine has landed themselves with a problem of missing a team principal, following the sudden departure of Oliver Oakes earlier this season.
Speculation grew that Oakes left as a result of a decision made on former driver Jack Doohan, who was demoted to reserve driver after a difficult start to the season.
The former team principal left his post in April and later revealed that it was due to a personal decision on social media, with team advisor Flavio Briatore also confirming it was not due to a disagreement.
Now there are questions over who will replace Oakes in the team, with some reports suggesting that Aston Martin’s Mike Krack could be tempted into the role after being demoted by his team this year.
Alpine have already got a potential candidate in mind, but they could face opposition according to a report from PlanetF1.
Alpine faces delay in appointing new team principal
The desired candidate would be former F1 sporting director Steve Nielsen, who has previously worked at the Enstone-based outfit.
Nielsen first worked for Lotus on their test team before moving to Tyrrell in 1994 as their assistant team manager. He would later have brief stints at Arrows and Honda, before moving to Benetton where he remained as their sporting director for almost a decade.
He would later join Caterham in 2012 in the same role, then Toro Rosso in 2013, before joining Williams in 2014 as sporting manager. Nielsen currently works as a consultant to F1, having left the FIA in 2023 as their F1 sporting director.
According to the report, if Alpine chooses to sign Nielsen, a period of gardening leave would need to be completed. It is said that rival teams would seek for that to be between at least three to six months.
Alpine could look to promote internally instead
Should it become difficult to secure Nielsen’s services, Alpine could promote internally with current sporting director Julian Rouse in the running.
Rouse was overlooked by Briatore and Luca de Meo last summer when they promoted Oakes, who became Alpine’s sixth team principal in as many years.
He has been with the Enstone outfit since 2022, when he initially joined as the director of the driver academy.
