{"id":382709,"date":"2025-12-31T14:13:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T14:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/382709\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T14:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T14:13:09","slug":"i-dont-believe-in-a-100-race-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/382709\/","title":{"rendered":"I don\u2019t believe \u201cin a 100-race plan\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alpine<\/a> managing director Steve Nielsen downplayed the idea of long-term recovery timelines as the Enstone-based team looks to rebuild itself in Formula 1.<\/p>\n

This marks a clear departure from the philosophy of Alpine\u2019s previous management, which committed to a so-called 100-race plan designed to return the team to the front of the grid. That project began in 2021, when Renault rebranded its Formula 1 operation as Alpine, with the expectation that the team would be fighting for podiums by 2024 and victories in 2025.<\/p>\n

Instead, Alpine has just completed its most difficult season in Formula 1, finishing last in the constructors\u2019 championship after halting development of the A525 in early June to focus fully on the 2026 regulations.<\/p>\n

Nielsen, who joined the team in September, insists there is no fixed timeframe for Alpine\u2019s return to competitiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a person who believes in a 100-race plan or a three-year plan or a five-year plan,\u201d Nielsen said in Abu Dhabi. \u201cI believe you put the best people you can get in the right positions, you give a clear mission, get the army marching all in the same direction, and you work as hard as you can and do the best job you can.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mill away at it, it\u2019s a slow grinding process, and you hope, eventually, you do a better job than everybody else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you we\u2019re building a better car next year than we have this year. I can\u2019t tell you whether that will line up first, 10th or 20th on the grid. I\u2019m confident we\u2019ve made a step, but the other nine teams are doing the same, so you don\u2019t know how much progress they\u2019ve made.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I know is we\u2019re improving our structure, we\u2019re recruiting in the areas where we\u2019re weak, and that grinding process starts now. You can\u2019t turn these things around in a few months or even a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Steve <\/p>\n

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director at Alpine F1<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sam Bagnall \/ Sutton Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nielsen previously spent multiple stints at Enstone during the Benetton and Renault eras, including serving as sporting director during the title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006. Drawing on that experience, he recalled how long it took the team to become a championship-winning operation and how difficult it is to apply that metric to Alpine now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was here when Renault bought Benetton the first time around,\u201d Nielsen added. \u201cIt took three years to win a race and five years to win the championship, and that metric doesn\u2019t necessarily apply today. It might be shorter, it might be longer \u2013 you just do the best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alpine ended the 2025 season last in the standings with 22 points, scoring points in only one of the final 11 grands prix. Nielsen says the priority for 2026 is to ensure the team is competitive on a far more consistent basis and can contend at the top of the midfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be racing every week, ideally for points,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve managed that on the odd weekend this year, but too often we\u2019ve been a long way off at the back. That\u2019s not where this team belongs, it\u2019s not where Enstone traditionally is, and it\u2019s not where we want to be. We need to be fighting at the top end of the midfield for points every weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

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– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen downplayed the idea of long-term recovery timelines as the Enstone-based team looks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[821,64,63,817,813,816,85,205803],"class_list":{"0":"post-382709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-alpine","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-formula-1","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-steve-nielsen-on-alpineu2019s-rebuild-i-donu2019t-believe-u201cin-a-100-race-planu201d"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}