Alpine Endurance Team's two A424s finished the Qatar 1812km at the Lusail International Circuit in 13th and 14th at the end of a race that was not without its difficulties.
After a strong start, race incidents slowed the #35 while the #36 lost pace due to damage.
After this result below its expectations, the A-arrow brand now focuses on the next challenge, the 6 Hours of Imola (18-20 April).
After racking up more than 3700 kilometres during the Prologue last weekend, Alpine Endurance Team returned to the Lusail International Circuit on Wednesday for the opening race of the season.

After initial preparations in sunny conditions, the team resumed its in-depth work with 208 laps completed in free practice under overcast skies and windy with lower temperatures. Charles Milesi (#35) and Mick Schumacher (#36) drove in qualifying on Thursday. Faced with the challenge of warming up their medium-compound Michelin tyres on a cooler track at sunset, Charles Milesi went through to the Hyperpole to take ninth place on the grid while his teammate settled for a spot on row seven.

On Friday, the Alpine A424s started the race with Frédéric Makowiecki (#36) and Ferdinand Habsburg (#35), with hard tyres on the left and medium tyres on the right. This combination remained the same throughout the race. Ferdinand Habsburg made a strong start, gaining five positions to complete the first lap in fourth place. The Austrian was even up to third at the end of the first hour, but he had to come into the pits after 1h16 with a puncture.

Charles Milesi (#35) and Jules Gounon (#36) then took over, confirming the solid start of their teammates, respectively running 6th and 9th as the race neared the four-hour mark. But after 3 hours and 36 minutes, Charles Milesi got caught up in heavy traffic, made contact with a GT car and spun. The penalty was threefold because he suffered a puncture and minor damage and was penalised five seconds during his pit stop, putting the #35 one lap down.

Shortly after half-distance, Paul-Loup Chatin and Mick Schumacher took over in the Alpine A424s #35 and #36 respectively. The two delivered some great battles.

While the #35 tried to make up ground by maintaining a solid pace until the end, the pace of #36 dropped significantly. Various damage affecting the car's behaviour made the task particularly difficult for its drivers. Jules Gounon (#36) and Ferdinand Habsburg (#35) eventually crossed the finish line in 13th and 14th for the second edition of the Qatar 1812km.

Part of the team will remain in Lusail for the next few days to test the future range of Michelin tyres on Sunday. Paul-Loup Chatin and Jules Gounon will drive the A424. The next event on the calendar for Alpine Endurance Team will be in Italy for the 6 Hours of Imola (18-20 April).

Quotes

#35 crew

Ferdinand Habsburg
"The start of the race was fantastic and I really felt very confident with the car in warmer conditions. I so much enjoyed it, to the point of joining the leading trio. Unfortunately, the further the race went on, the more complicated it became for us, with a few minor contacts in particular. We are still in a learning process, and we need to improve to fight with the best. We will start working on it tomorrow."

Paul-Loup Chatin
"For our second time here, obviously, we were aiming for better, but over the ten days, there are many positives to take away, particularly on the operational side. The team did a great job and I know it will pay dividends during the season. The race was difficult and probably not perfect on our side either, but we showed some great things. Now it's up to us to sort out what needs improvement to turn this into good results."

Charles Milesi
"The start of the race was encouraging as we joined the leading group. But after that, it was more complicated, especially with the unfortunate contact with a GT car, which caused a puncture and slight damage. We need to find some performance compared to the test sessions as the competition also worked hard during the winter. With a cleaner race, we would have fought for points. Whatever happens, we need to stay positive and get back to work for Imola."

#36 crew

Frédéric Makowiecki
"This first race week of the year was very rewarding. We identified various points we worked well on while identifying others we must optimise. There are some interesting things, and we want to come back stronger, beginning at Imola, because we are here to fight at the front. We got off to a good start in the race, but the situation deteriorated afterwards without us honestly knowing why. One thing is sure: the potential is there."

Jules Gounon
"We had higher expectations after the Prologue, but the race wasn't easy. The changing conditions during the race and some small issues with the car in the race's final hours prevented us from maintaining the pace we had set at the beginning. But we have gathered a lot of information and will draw the necessary conclusions to move forward and bounce back at Imola."

Mick Schumacher
"It became increasingly difficult for us when the temperatures dropped. We need to analyse everything in detail to understand what happened. It is not the result we were looking for, especially given the team's work during the off-season and Prologue. We need to look at everything in detail to go to Imola with answers that will allow us to improve."

Philippe Sinault, Team Principal Alpine Endurance Team
"It was a complicated first race. The start was very good in terms of the pace set by our drivers and tyre degradation. The #35 suffered a puncture and then a collision in traffic, which caused it to drop down the order. Despite this, it managed to maintain a similar pace to the competition, although down a lap. The performance of the #36 car was affected in the back half of the race by damage. Nevertheless, the potential is there, and we must improve between now and Imola."

Nicolas Lapierre, Sporting Director Alpine Endurance Team
"First of all, I want to thank the drivers for the job they did on the track. The championship is very competitive, the competition is fierce, and if you're not in the right window, you quickly find yourself in a tough situation. We will learn from this race and use the Sunday test day here and the tests planned before Imola to work on it. We will try to understand how to get the most of the tyres as that will be one of the keys this season. I saw many positive things over the two weeks, but we still have work to do between now and the next race at Imola.”

CLASSIFICATION 

Qatar 1812km
1. Ferrari AF Corse #50
13. Alpine Elf Endurance Team #36
14. Alpine Elf Endurance Team #35