Makowiecki Relishing “More Reactive” Environment at Alpine

Frederic Makowiecki has described the Alpine FIA World Endurance Championship outfit as more responsive to the needs of the drivers than Porsche, ahead of his race debut with the French marque this week in Qatar.

Makowiecki opted to end his long association with Porsche at the end of last year in favor of a switch to Alpine, where he joins Mick Schumacher and Jules Gounon aboard the No. 36 A424 for the eight-round WEC campaign that kicks off with Friday’s Qatar 1812km.

Last week’s Prologue test in Qatar marked Makowiecki’s first public outing for his new employer, with the No. 36 crew placing seventh across the two days of running.

Looking back at the start of his Alpine tenure, the 44-year-old Frenchman he had a “smile on his face” owing to his feeling of his input being more valued than was the case during a two-year stint with Porsche Penske Motorsport.

“It was a fun experience with Porsche, but now with Alpine I really appreciate the atmosphere and the way of working,” Makowiecki told Sportscar365. “Sometimes being with French people helps with communication.

“In general, it’s a bit more direct. The process at Porsche was a bit different. Here, when you want to talk about a topic, you can talk directly to the people involved quite quickly. It’s quite reactive, which I appreciate.

“In racing, the reaction time is important and that feels more ‘in line’ here.”

Makowiecki highlighted the importance of newly-appointed Alpine sporting director Nicolas Lapierre, who retired from driving duties after last year’s Fuji round, in serving as a bridge between the drivers and the rest of the team.

“When you have bigger organizations, the position of the driver becomes a bit different,” added Makowiecki. “Where we more central before, now we are a bit more on the side.

“We need the drivers’ point of view heard on some topics, especially those that influence the driver. And on that point, Nico helps us a lot, also from one side to explain to us the vision of the team, and also to push the needs of the drivers,

“At some point the cars became complex and you can easily go in a direction where the car feels disconnected from the driver.”

Asked if he felt this was something that was lacking at Porsche, Makowiecki replied: “It wouldn’t say it was lacking, because there were people there to listen [to the drivers], it’s just a process that takes a bit more time.

“When you talk to someone, there is filter on filter, and the final decision is sometimes not what you expect or what you wish. On that side, I felt [Alpine is] a little more reactive.”

Prior to the Prologue, Makowiecki spent two days at the wheel of the A424 in a private test at the start of the month at Monza, where he said he could immediately feel the difference in terms of feeling at the wheel compared to the Porsche 963.

“I like a car that has a proper front end, and this is the case with the Alpine,” he remarked.

“It’s a question of feedback to the driver from the front axle, and the Alpine is like this. It feels more natural because I can feel the limit.”

Alpine goes into its second WEC season hoping to improve on the fourth place finish in the manufacturers’ standings it achieved in its first season last year, having beaten fellow newcomer BMW to unofficial Hypercar ‘best of the rest’ status in 2024.

Asked for his targets for his first season with Alpine, Makowiecki expressed optimism that the Signatech-run team can build on its strong end to last year and become a regular challenge at the front of the field.

“I would say for me the second year is always the hardest,” he said. “In the first year, there are no real expectations, except to make progress through the year.

“This year, there is some wish to be consistently in a good position – the performance level the team reached at the end of last year needs to be repeated all through the year. The goal is to be consistently in a position to do a good result.

“To win or be on the podium is something else, but we need to be happy with the work we did every weekend and not say we were missing this or that.

“I trust the team of people we have to find solutions to the issues we have.”