Alpine announced the immediate appointment of Jason Somerville as deputy technical director. He will be based at the team’s Enstone facility and report directly to executive technical director David Sanchez. The move was agreed late last year following a six-month gardening leave after Somerville’s departure from the FIA.

Somerville returns to Enstone, where he worked in 2010–11, and will work alongside Alpine engineers, designers and aerodynamicists to strengthen the team’s aerodynamic leadership and accelerate performance in the current regulation cycle. The hire is part of a broader technical reshuffle intended to inject regulatory and aerodynamic expertise into the program.

His résumé includes spells at Williams, Toyota, Lotus and Formula One Management. He served as F1 head of aerodynamics from 2017 to 2022 and, at the FIA, helped develop the 2022 ground-effect rules and the current technical regulations, and he has played a central role since 2022 in shaping the 2026 rules. The appointment reunites Somerville with longtime Enstone figures such as Steve Nielsen and Flavio Briatore. Alpine finished bottom of the 2025 constructors’ standings and sits fifth in 2026 after four races with 23 points, scored by Pierre Gasly and rookie Franco Colapinto. Somerville said he was excited to return to “hunt milliseconds” and to push for points and trophies.