WEC Team Preview: Alpine

Credit: DPPI

This year marks Alpine’s swansong season in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), having announced their withdrawal from the series at the conclusion of 2026 in February. 

The French marque’s endurance program began in 2013, entering the European Le Mans Series’ LMP2 class in a joint venture with French racing team Signatech – they fielded a rebadged Oreca 03 dubbed the Alpine A450, before making the jump to the WEC for the 2015 season.

In the subsequent years, Alpine competed in the LMP2 class before making the switch to the Hypercar category for its inaugural season in 2021, entering a grandfathered Rebellion R13 LMP1 car, rebadged as the Alpine A480. 

After dropping back to the LMP2 class in 2023, Alpine returned to the top class in 2024, entering with a pair of their own Oreca-based Alpine A424 LMDh cars. 

2025 yielded the first win for Alpine’s new Hypercar contender, with the no.35 car – piloted by Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Charles Milesi – taking victory at the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Last year, Alpine finished 6th in the Hypercar manufacturer’s standings, just one point adrift of BMW in fifth place. The race-winning no.35 crew were the best-placed of the two Alpine teams in the drivers standings, placing 14th.

Alpine brings a revised driver lineup for their final season in WEC.

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António Félix da Costa replaces Paul-Loup Chatin – who has moved across to the Genesis Magma program for 2026 – on the No.35 car lineup alongside Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi.

Da Costa last competed in the Hypercar class in 2023, which he contested behind the wheel of the No.38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 after winning the LMP2 class championship with the team the year prior.

The Portuguese driver has started his 2026 sportscar season strong, claiming second place in the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Inter Europol Competition. Da Costa expressed his eagerness to start with Alpine in a team media release late last year:

“I am delighted to join (the) Alpine Endurance Team. Returning to the FIA World Endurance Championship was one of my main objectives, and I am extremely pleased to do so with a manufacturer that has been redefining itself in a bold and ambitious way, and now competing at the forefront of endurance racing. Alpine is a brand with a strong racing heritage, and becoming part of such an impressive ecosystem is truly exciting,” he said.

“The team has been performing at a very high level, recently (scoring) its maiden victory with the A424, making this the perfect moment to begin our collaboration. Everyone knows my passion for endurance racing.” 

“I have worked extremely hard to develop as a complete driver in this discipline and, after winning the LMP2 title, my goal now is to contribute to Alpine's success at the pinnacle. I look forward to working with the team, my teammates and all the engineers and mechanics."

As for his teammates, Ferdinand Habsburg – who joined Alpine for the 2024 season following an LMP2 class campaign with Team WRT – enters his third full year with the team. 

The longest-running member of Alpine team on the No.35 lineup is Charles Milesi, who is back for a fourth year with the outfit. His tenure with the French marque has so far yielded two LMP2 class podiums in 2023 along with a Hypercar class victory last year.

The Frenchman has also been busy in the WEC off-season, recently finishing second in the Asian Le Mans series LMP2 class and making appearances for TDS Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year. He also won last year’s European Le Mans Series while piloting LMP2 machinery.

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Across the garage, ex-Formula 2 driver and 2022 FIA Formula 3 champion Victor Martins has replaced the departing Mick Schumacher on the No.36 roster, the latter making the switch IndyCar with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Martins was previously a member of the Alpine Academy from 2021 through until the end of the 2024 season, during which he most notably won the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship. He had also previously been a part of the Renault Sport Academy between 2018 and 2019 prior to its Alpine rebrand.

He is joined by Jules Gounon and Frédéric Makowiecki, both of whom have been retained on what is now an all-French driver lineup for 2026. 

Gounon holds double factory driver status, racing for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship while also being an active member of the Mercedes-AMG GT racing roster.

Meanwhile, Makowiecki joined Alpine for the 2025 season after an 11-year stint as a Porsche factory driver, during which he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGTE Pro class in 2022 and spent two seasons behind the wheel of Penske-run 963. Makowiecki will be chasing his first WEC race win since taking Le Mans class honours nearly four years ago.

Aside from the lineup changes, the Alpine A424 itself has also received aerodynamic updates for 2026, and the team has spent the WEC offseason completing test sessions at Le Castellet, Portimão, and MotorLand Aragón.

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Alpine Team Endurance Team Principal Philippe Sinault elaborated on the outfit’s testing program while also acknowledging the unfortunate postponement of the WEC season opener.

“Our test at MotorLand Aragón was an important step in our preparation, building on the work completed at Le Castellet and Portimão. Running the Alpine A424 in its 2026 configuration over a 24-hour endurance format allowed us to complete an intensive programme with both crews together for the first time,” he said.

“We focused particularly on aerodynamics and tyre understanding, benefiting from representative top speeds and varied track conditions. The outcome is positive, with over 3,000 kilometres completed and all six drivers contributing to valuable correlation work with our simulations.”

“While the postponement of the Qatar round is unfortunate, it gave us additional time to prepare for the season start. We remain fully mobilised, with further simulator work and another test planned at Spa-Francorchamps early April as we continue to refine our package.”

Nicolas Lapierre – a former driver for the team and now its current Sporting Director – said he is confident in the team heading into the WEC season opener while sharing Sinault’s sentiment surrounding round one’s postponement.

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“I am very satisfied with the progress we have made with our 2026 developments. I am also very pleased with how quickly our two new drivers have integrated into the team. Victor adapted extremely well from the outset, while António already plays a key role within the group. The six-driver lineup is working very well together, with a strong team spirit building both on and off track,” he said.

“Of course, the postponement of the Qatar round is disappointing, but we are looking forward to starting the season in Imola — a circuit where we secured a podium in 2025 — which gives us confidence heading into the opening race.”

The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season kicks off with the Prologue Test on 14th April 2026 at the Imola Circuit ahead of the season-opening Six Hours of Imola on 17th-19th April 2026.