The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season opens this week with the Prologue (21-22 February).
The A424 will return to the venue of its competition debut just under a year after its first official outing at the Lusail International Circuit.
The Alpine Endurance Team crews will use these test days to fine-tune the A424 ahead of the Qatar 1812km (28 February).
361 days after the baptism of fire of its A424 Hypercar, Alpine Endurance Team returns to Qatar to launch its second campaign in the FIA World Endurance Championship's premier category. As is tradition, the FIA WEC will be back in action for the Prologue, two days of testing that bring all the competitors together for their final preparations before the season-opening race at the same venue.
As last year, these rehearsals will occur at the Lusail International Circuit. Inaugurated in 2004, the 5.419 km track has 16 flowing turns, linked by one of the longest straight lines on the calendar (1,068 metres). The field will have a maximum of 14 hours of track time spread over four sessions on Friday and Saturday.
To take full advantage of these tests, Alpine Endurance Team will count on the experience accumulated last year by Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi in the #35 car and Mick Schumacher in the sister car, where he will be joined by Jules Gounon and Frédéric Makowiecki, who came third in the 2024 edition.
After testing at the beginning of February in Monza, the two A-arrow brand Hypercars arrived in Qatar on Wednesday morning, where they are now being prepared before their first laps at Lusail on Friday. The crews and technical team will then get back into their stride and check all the systems. Following this first phase, they will seek to deepen their knowledge to optimise the setup and use of the Michelin tyres on a track where wind gusts and sand can significantly impact track conditions.
After the Prologue, the team will analyse the data collected in preparation for the first challenge of the year: the Qatar 1812km (26-28 February).
