Alpine Drivers Can Feel Team’s “Energy” For Final Year

Alpine’s Hypercar drivers have stated they can feel extra “energy” within the French manufacturer as it gears up for its final season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

In February, Alpine announced that the 2026 WEC campaign would be the last one for the current effort with the A424, bringing the curtain down on its program with the Oreca-based LMDh contender after only three seasons.

The news came amid the introduction of a new aero package aimed at boosting the A424’s competitiveness as well as the signing of two new drivers in the form of Antonio Felix da Costa and Victor Martins, who replace Paul-Loup Chatin and Mick Schumacher.

Ahead of this weekend’s 6 Hours of Imola, Ferdinand Habsburg remarked that the atmosphere within the team in the wake of the withdrawal news was very different to what he had anticipated.

“What was really nice to experience was after the announcement, going to the workshop for the first time,” said Habsburg.

“What was awesome was that when I went to the workshop, when I went to the sim, went to the test day, and it was the opposite of what I expected. They stepped up their game.

“We have the updates that we could have asked for, nothing was held back. We are full attack. I feel more motivated this year just from the energy the team was giving me.”

Martins, who has joined Alpine for his first WEC campaign fresh from FIA Formula 2, said uncertainty about the future is nothing new for him given his single-seater racing background.

“I think we should stay motivated,” said Martins. “I have been in single-seaters always not knowing what I was going to do the year after, so in the end it doesn’t change anything for me in terms of pressure and motivation. 

“I am just sending it to start the season and see how it goes. I will be enjoying with everyone in the team, to perform, do some results and then we’ll see what happens after.”

Axel Plasse, vice-president of the Viry-Chatillon-based Alpine Tech facility that oversees the brand’s Hypercar program, also remarked about the positive mindset of the team heading into its farewell WEC season.

“I can feel the amount of energy in the team and they are really committed to perform,” said Plasse. “I cannot only see it but feel it.

“I think this announcement [to quit the WEC] finally strengthened the team’s commitment and determination to perform. This is what I can feel within the team.”

Drivers Can Feel Difference With 2026 Aero Update

Alpine’s new-for-2026 aero update has been aimed at increasing the A424’s downforce, as the initial low-drag philosophy of the car — which debuted in 2024 — was rendered obsolete by the introduction of two-stage Balance of Performance to bring all cars’ straight line speed closer together, particularly for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Habsburg remarked the extra cornering speed of the updated car was immediately noticeable in winter testing at Motorland Aragon in Spain.

“The feeling is something you could feel on the neck quite quickly because there is more downforce,” said Habsburg. “When you feel the neck a bit more, it’s a sign that the engineers did a mega job.

“The first time we drove the package was at Aragon, and I was positively surprised. There’s a fast left-hander before you go on the straight which is always where you feel the physics the most. I remember before how much of a lift we had to do to get around it, whereas now it was much quicker and better.

“We are still learning and Imola is not the perfect track because you run the car quite soft and you are not engaging it so much. But I think Spa will be the first time we’ll see if we’ve really made a step towards having a better aero package compared to the likes of Cadillac and Ferrari, who were strong at Spa last year.”

Frederic Makowiecki added that the increase of downforce with the 2026-spec A424 should make the car a more rounded proposition across the eight circuits that make up the WEC calendar.

“For sure the [downforce] deficit we had last year made it a little bit hard. We were losing on clearly on full wet performance. And at Le Mans, the game changed with the ‘dual band’ [two-stage Balance of Performance].

“The package gained downforce but we we also rebalanced the car because we were struggling to have this balance between front and rear; most of the time we were compromising something and we are always fighting oversteer, understeer.

“This weekend we have it where we want, but we need to optimize for the rest of the WEC races and also for Le Mans.”