Makowiecki Feels “Like I’m Back in My 20s” at Alpine

Frederic Makowiecki says he feels like he is “back in my 20s” after a positive first half of the FIA World Endurance Championship season with Alpine, adding that his switch to the French marque giving him “back the motivation I needed.”

Makowiecki made the surprise move from Porsche to join Alpine’s No. 36 lineup for the 2025 campaign alongside Mick Schumacher and Jules Gounon.

Halfway through his first season with the Renault-owned marque, Makowiecki and his co-drivers sit ninth in the championship having scored back-to-back podiums at Imola and Spa, albeit struggling to a ninth-place finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Looking back on the decision to move manufacturers at a relatively late stage in his career, the Frenchman said that the working environment at Alpine has given him fresh impetus after feeling his input was not so valued by Porsche.

“From my side, I found an environment where I am happy,” Makowiecki reflected. “I am quite a demanding person towards others, but also towards myself.

“This I experienced when I arrived at Porsche; I was challenging a lot the system and this worked well, but after some evolutions, it did not fit as I wanted.

“I found back here [at Alpine] people which all want to work in the same way, who are capable of listening, who don’t take things personally.

“Definitely, for me as a driver, it’s what I wanted. I feel as if I am back in my 20s, I am fresh, I want to push, and that for a driver is kind of a dream. 

“When you request a lot of a system because you have more experience, but when the system is not answering, or is against you, because it doesn’t like pressure, it’s very hard to keep motivation. Here, definitely it gave me back the motivation I needed.”

Makowiecki added that Alpine’s desire to sign a more experienced driver bucks the trend he has observed among other manufacturers, which he feels are more likely to value a young driver that is able to fit in with the existing way of doing things.

“For sure, motorsport has changed a lot in the last few years,” he said. “The structures have become bigger and bigger, and the place of the driver, which was very central 10 or 15 years ago, became more on the side, and sometimes annoying the system.

“But you still have some ‘real racers’ [in certain teams] who understand that the place of the driver is important in an organization and really want this input.

“When you are younger, you are more flexible. That’s why big organizations now like young drivers, because even if they are not doing things right, young drivers will not complain so much.

“When you are older, you start to think, ‘I don’t have another 10 years to win’, and you realize, ‘Now we need to do it.'”

At 44, Makowiecki is the third-oldest driver in Hypercar, behind only Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA duo Sebastien Bourdais (46) and Jenson Button (45).

But the one-time Le Mans class winner was coy on how much longer he plans to race at the top level, saying only he plans to continue while he feels he has the speed.

“At the moment I am motivated, but I will not wait until I am missing speed,” said Makowiecki. “I am competitive and I never want to be the weak point of a lineup.

“While everything is fine and I feel capable to push, I will do it, but the moment that I become a burden on my colleagues, I will say, ‘Thank you very much, but it’s over.’”