Gasly: Nielsen’s focus on 2026 - won’t transform Alpine this season

Pierre Gasly has cautioned that Alpine’s incoming managing director Steve Nielsen is unlikely to have any significant impact on the team’s fortunes this season, stressing that the veteran’s focus will be on preparing the Enstone squad for 2026 and Formula 1’s regulation changes.

Gasly, who has endured a difficult campaign in Alpine’s uncompetitive A525, has been the team’s sole points scorer this year, with all 20 points on the board coming from his efforts.

Despite several strong displays in qualifying, the Frenchman has often been left battling in the lower tier of F1’s midfield on race day in a car he describes as essentially frozen in development.

“The reality is the car has been the same since Barcelona and will remain the same until the end of the year,” Gasly told reporters in Hungary last time out.

“On one side, you’ve got to be objective and realistic on what’s achievable. Steve will arrive in September, and I think his impact and his work will be mainly seen in 2026 and beyond.

“Honestly, Steve’s got to focus on next year. We know all the work that we are putting for 2026. We are pleased with what we are doing and the evolution. I’m confident. I believe in the team and the fact that they’ll be able to give me a competitive car next year.”

Riding Out 2024’s Struggles

Alpine’s season has been turbulent both on and off track, with former team principal Ollie Oakes resigning and Flavio Briatore stepping in as executive advisor to stabilise operations.

Nielsen’s appointment, bringing decades of F1 experience, is seen as a move towards long-term stability, but Gasly admits 2025 is essentially a holding pattern.

“The reality of it is this season, this is what we have, and it’s going to be extremely difficult to change the position that we are in,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean we are doing a bad job at the track or back at the factory. We just haven’t been able to produce a car, in a season where the midfield is extremely tight, with the decisions we’ve made for ’26.”

Those decisions include a strategic shift to become a Mercedes customer team from 2026 – a move Gasly hopes will transform Alpine into a potential dark horse under the new regulations.

Trading Short-Term Pain for Long-Term Gain

Gasly, who last year helped Alpine to sixth in the Constructors’ standings, concedes there is little to fight for in the remaining races of 2025. But for him, the prospect of a competitive car in 2026 outweighs any marginal gain in the current standings.

“We haven’t been able to provide enough performance to fight for better than that,” he said. “Which is fine because at the end of the day, whether you finish ninth or eighth or tenth in the championship, you’re still fighting for nothing pretty much.

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“But if it gives you a car that can fight for race wins, podiums, top five next season, I’ll take that every day of the week.”

With Alpine’s focus firmly on the long-term project and Nielsen’s influence yet to be felt, Gasly appears prepared to endure the frustrations of 2024 in exchange for the possibility of podium contention in the years to come.

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