85. Steve Nielsen

Steve Nielsen (born 2 July 1964) is a British Formula One motor racing engineer.

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Nielsen joined the police force after graduating high school in 1985 but resigned after only 11 months. He then worked as a truck driver for a Formula One catering company. In 1986, he joined Team Lotus’ test team before running their spare parts department. In 1991, he moved to Tyrrell in the same role before being appointed assistant team manager in 1994. In the next five years, he moved to Benetton, back to Tyrrell, to Honda, then Arrows, before moving back to Benetton, where he spent almost a decade as Sporting Director, including the team’s transitions to Renault F1 and Lotus Renault GP.

After spending 2012 as Sporting Director at Caterham, Steve Nielsen joined Scuderia Toro Rosso at the start of the 2013 season. He joined Williams as Sporting Manager in December 2014 and worked in that role until leaving in July 2017.

On 1 August 2017, he started in a new position as the Sporting Director of Formula One. He left this role and became the FIA Sporting Director on 18 January 2023.

The FIA has appointed Steve Nielsen as sporting director in a raft of changes to management structure; Nielsen will oversee race management after several issues in recent seasons, including the controversial ending to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton.

Steve Nielsen said of his appointment:

I have spent my professional life working for many teams and organisations in Formula 1 and cannot wait to engage with another new chapter with the FIA.

I understand and appreciate the unique challenges that come with being the regulator. Having worked closely with many people in the Federation over the years, I’m looking forward to tackling the challenges ahead of them.

Formula 1 is in a great place at the moment, and it’s our responsibility to ensure the future health of the sport that is at the heart of everything we do.