Chatin: “Lot of Frustration” at Being Unable to Drive Genesis

Photo: Drew Gibson/Genesis

New Genesis Magma Racing recruit Paul-Loup Chatin has admitted there is “a lot of frustration” at not yet being able to drive the team’s Hypercar, but is confident of quickly getting up to speed.

Chatin was announced in November as joining Genesis following a tenure with Alpine in the FIA World Endurance Championship during which he won this year’s 6 Hours of Fuji in the A424.

However, Chatin remains contracted to the French manufacturer until the end of 2025 and has therefore been unable to sample Genesis’ new GMR-001 Hypercar.

He is due to experience the car for the first time during a Qatar test in January, but that will be several months after his fellow Genesis drivers got behind the wheel of it.

Alongside not driving the car, Chatin has also been barred from attending any Genesis technical or engineering debriefs at tests.

“It’s a lot of frustration to be there, to see the car, to see my team-mates driving and doing a lot of laps, sharing with the engineers on everything, to not be allowed all of that it’s quite frustrating for me,” Chatin said when Sportscar365 asked about the situation.

“But I know we have the right people – we have the right drivers, we have the right engineers, we have the right mechanics, so OK I’m not part of that moment of development but I know there is no compromise on the future performance of the car due to that.

“It’s just personal frustration to not be in the car. But, on the other hand, I know the job is well done.

“It’s like that, it’s part of life – I’m under contract until the Dec. 31.

“I was super happy to work with Alpine for two years and a half and I for sure wish them the best for the future. But I hope we fight quite soon on track in a good way.”

Chatin’s integration into the Genesis team will be aided by the fact his performance engineer from Alpine has also made the same move and has already started work.

The Genesis squad is keen for Chatin to experience the GMR-001 because it contains the same ORECA spine as the A424 and the Frenchman will therefore be able to compare the two cars.

“With me with Alpine, I’m the only one with the ORECA background so I will arrive at Qatar and be capable of doing a comparison to what I know from last year,” Chatin added.

“But, at the same time, it’s not a secret to say Alpine improved their car and moved forward in another direction in terms of aero package.

“We know what was strong with Alpine, what was not strong enough. I’m quite convinced that, when I jump in the Genesis, I will have a good feeling, but I will not be capable of telling you how good it is because Alpine have improved in the same time.

“It’s always difficult to do a clear comparison but for sure I cannot wait to see if I have the same feedback with something better.”

Genesis’ chief engineer Justin Taylor acknowledged that Chatin’s inability to drive the car until January was “not ideal.”

While the team has been able to get plenty of feedback from the likes of Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani on the car’s performance, Taylor said it was more on the practical side that Chatin’s unavailability was a hindrance.

“We of course want to get his feedback as soon as possible, but we have enough feedback from the other guys,” said Taylor.

“The stuff you need to deal with that, Paul-Loup is a pro, he knows what to do and we know what to do with him.

“But we need the small detail things, his seat, his belts. All that, when you do the driver crew, you’ve got to have them all so to not have him we’re having to guess some things and hopefully we’re right.”

Despite not yet being able to sample the Genesis, Chatin insisted he had no concerns about quickly getting up to speed.

“I have plenty of experience now in endurance so I know that, when I will jump in the car at Qatar, of course I will need a few laps to get used to the car, but I’m not worried about that,” he said.

“We will still have plenty of time with the test at Qatar and the second one [test] later, then the Prologue, then the race.”

Chatin also said that, even with his ORECA experience, he will not instantly try to steer Genesis’ development in a different direction.

Instead, he feels it is important for the drivers to act as a team, saying “we cannot be six leaders.”

“I don’t want to arrive and try to change the process – it cannot work like that,” he explained.

“I think it’s clear that Pipo and Andre are there since day one and they gave the direction with our philosophy and we have to adapt ourselves to that.”