Alpine Changes No. 35 Engine After Hyperpole Failure

Alpine has carried out a precautionary engine change on the No. 35 A424 after Charles Milesi stopped the car in Hyperpole on Friday.

The Frenchman initially qualified eighth in Alpine’s first appearance in Hyperpole, but has since been promoted to seventh after the No. 50 Ferrari 499P was stripped of pole for being underweight.

However, the session was not without issue for Milesi, as he brought the car to a halt on track in the closing minutes with issues affecting the A424’s turbocharged V6 engine.

“We got an engine failure coming into Raidillon, so I had to stop the car straight away,” he said after the session.

Alpine team principal Philippe Sinault already indicated to gathered media on Friday evening that the team was likely to carry out repair works on the No. 35 car after the failure.

A team spokesperson confirmed to Sportscar365 that the failure on the No. 35 car was related to the drain pump, but that it elected to carry out a complete engine change as a precaution.

It marks the first notable instance of an engine change for Alpine during a race weekend with the A424, which is powered by a “drastically modified” version of the Mecachrome V634 engine.

Despite the failure, Milesi was buoyed by Alpine’s performance in qualifying, noting that the French brands made a “good step” from practice and “expected to be a lot further back.”

“I think we are quite happy with the balance of the car,” he said.

“Especially after FP3. We made a good step between FP2 and FP3; FP3 to qualifying was a normal step.

“The step we had in laptime in FP3 compared to qualifying was quite big.

“It’s pretty nice we got to Hyperpole, I think for everybody it put us in a good mood because in Imola we were a bit off and for everyone it’s a good step.

“For the race, I think a top ten will be a lot easier for us than starting from the back.”