Alpine Unveils Livery, Driver Pairings for Hypercar Return

Alpine has pulled the covers off the final version of its A424 LMDh car that is set to debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship next month, while at the same time confirming the exact makeup of its driver crew.

The ORECA-chassised prototype, which was initially unveiled at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans before making its on-track debut in August, has been decked out in a predominantly blue livery, which also features red and white accents.

The two A424s, while will be operated by the Philippe Sinault-led Signatech crew, is set for its competitive debut in the season-opening Qatar 1812km at the Lusail International Circuit on March 2.

Alpine returns to the top class of the WEC after a one-year absence, having previously competed and won races with the A480 Gibson grandfathered LMP1 car.

It spent the 2023 season competing in the LMP2 class while preparing for a jump back to top class competition with the A424.

In addition to the livery reveal, Alpine’s launch event, held at the Enstone headquarters of its Formula 1 operation, confirmed the exact composition of the French squad’s driver lineup.

Alpine revealed its six-driver crew, including former F1 racer Mick Schumacher, last November, but was yet to reveal how exactly the six drivers would be spread across the pair of cars.

Paul-Loup Chatin will share the No. 35 car with Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi, while Schumacher, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere team up behind the wheel of the sister No. 36 machine.

Mercedes-AMG factory driver and GT3 star Jules Gounon was named as the reserve driver on Wednesday.