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At Aragón, Alpine Endurance Team has validated a Hypercar package fully developed for 2026. It is the logical next step in the car’s rise to competitiveness, though one overshadowed by the difficult-to-justify end of the programme.
The MotorLand Aragón test comes at a pivotal moment for Alpine Endurance Team. On track, every indicator points to a programme that has reached maturity. Behind the scenes, however, the prospect of Alpine bringing its Hypercar commitment to an end in 2026 gives the whole picture a more complex, almost contradictory feel.
Run over a 24-hour format, the Spanish session marked another significant step in the team’s winter preparation. With more than 3,000 kilometres completed without any major incident, the objective was no longer to explore, but to validate, structure and refine a technical package that is now well understood.
Alpine Endurance Team: an A424 now fully understood in operation
Since its introduction in 2024, the Alpine A424 has followed a coherent development path, marked by steady progress. The results achieved in 2025 — three podiums and a victory at the 6 Hours of Fuji — had already confirmed that the technical foundation was sound.
The Aragón test only reinforces that impression. The aerodynamic package is now being exploited with stability and consistency over long runs in mind, while the work carried out on Michelin’s new-generation tyres is helping the team define operating windows with greater precision. The correlation between simulator and track has reached a level of accuracy that allows for more decisive technical choices, without the uncertainties that so often define the development phase.
At the heart of this package, the V6 developed at Viry-Châtillon stands out as a key element. Reliable, powerful and particularly rewarding to run over long distances, it brings real coherence to the overall package. Its sound, more subdued than the naturally aspirated benchmarks of the past but still instantly recognisable, also contributes to the car’s identity in a category where mechanical signatures are becoming increasingly uniform.
This engine also embodies a broader reality. The restructuring under way around Viry, with the planned end of certain thermal Formula 1 activities, is mechanically leading to the gradual disappearance of this endurance know-how as well. In that sense, the 2026 season takes on a particular, almost testamentary dimension.
One of the major takeaways from the Spanish test lies in the validation of the line-ups in their definitive configurations:
- Alpine A424 No.35: António Félix da Costa, Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi
- Alpine A424 No.36: Victor Martins, Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon
The work completed over 24 hours with both cars running simultaneously confirmed the coherence of those combinations. Stints followed one another with consistency, the technical feedback converged, and adjustments could be made without any loss of focus, making the overall operation markedly easier to manage.
The integration of the new drivers happened quickly, without upsetting the balance of the group, and the team now operates within a clearly defined collective framework, which is essential for delivering over long-format races where the management of operational details so often makes the difference.
Signatech continuity as the guiding thread
This stability is no accident. It is part of the continuity of the work carried out by Signatech for more than a decade.
Since 2013, the structure led by Philippe Sinault has built Alpine’s credibility in endurance racing through a methodical progression, from LMP2 titles right up to its Hypercar entry. That culture of rigour and endurance in the effort is now reflected in the team’s ability to run a complex programme with consistency.
Aragón provides a very concrete illustration of that: a dense, structured session, free from distraction, where every kilometre completed served a precise development purpose.
It is precisely this rise in competitiveness that makes the current situation so difficult to interpret.
Alpine now has a car it understands, a stable team and a strong technical environment. And yet 2026 will mark the end of this Hypercar programme. The departure of Bruno Famin, who oversaw the launch and early stages of the project, forms part of this transition period but also underlines a degree of rupture just as the whole operation is becoming competitive.
Axel Plasse is taking on those responsibilities within a logic of technical continuity, but the timing remains open to question. In a discipline where performance cycles are built over several years, bringing a programme to an end just as it reaches maturity inevitably raises serious questions.
On the sporting front, however, the outlook is clear.
Alpine Endurance Team heads into the 2026 season with strong arguments. The reliability shown during testing, the improved understanding of the tyres and the coherence of the driver line-ups all suggest the team can be a regular presence at the front. Against manufacturers such as Toyota, Ferrari and Porsche, outright pace alone will not always be enough, but the ability to execute clean, consistent races remains a decisive lever.
In that context, circuits such as Imola, Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans offer genuine opportunities, provided that potential is converted into concrete results.
What they said
Axel Plasse, VP Alpine Tech
“First of all, we would like to thank Bruno Famin for his work and commitment to Alpine’s endurance programme. He played a key role in establishing the project and supported the team from its earliest stages of development, which ultimately produced three fine podiums as well as a landmark victory at Fuji.
As part of the continuation of my role as VP Alpine Tech, in which I was already overseeing the programme, I am also taking over Bruno’s responsibilities while working even more closely alongside Philippe Sinault in support of the team. The recent test at MotorLand Aragón allowed us to continue learning about the Alpine A424 and to deepen several areas of performance development.
Despite the postponement of the opening round in Qatar, the team remains fully focused. With our partners, who are key players in this project, our objective is to keep progressing and get the very maximum out of this final season of the programme.”
Philippe Sinault, Team Principal Alpine Endurance Team
“Our test at MotorLand Aragón was an important part of our preparation, following on from the work carried out at Le Castellet and Portimão. Running the Alpine A424 in its 2026 configuration over a 24-hour endurance format enabled us to complete an especially dense programme, with our two crews brought together for the first time.
We focused in particular on aerodynamics and tyre understanding on a circuit with representative top speeds and varied track conditions. The outcome is positive, with more than 3,000 kilometres completed and all six drivers contributing to valuable correlation work. While the postponement of Qatar is regrettable, it gave us extra time to prepare for the start of the season.
We remain fully mobilised, with simulator work and further testing planned for early April at Spa-Francorchamps so that we can continue refining our package.”
Nicolas Lapierre, Sporting Director Alpine Endurance Team
“I am very pleased with the progress made with our 2026 developments. I am also delighted by how quickly our two new drivers have integrated.
Victor adapted extremely quickly, while António is already playing a key role within the group. All six drivers are working very well together, with an excellent team spirit developing both on and off the track.
Of course, the postponement of Qatar is regrettable, but we are eager to start the season at Imola, a circuit where we scored a podium in 2025, which gives us confidence ahead of the first race.”
A final campaign that goes beyond sport
The 2026 season will not be a season like any other.
Beyond the performance stakes, it is part of a longer story, one that began in 2013 with Signatech and has continued at Le Mans without interruption since 2015. For many, that continuity has forged a particular bond with the team, built over the years through success as well as more difficult phases.
Against that backdrop, it is difficult not to anticipate a special emotion as the 24 Hours of Le Mans approaches. The race is shaping up to become a meeting point between performance, memory and attachment, with an inevitably more bitter flavour given the decisions taken upstream.
What matters most remains the same: on track, Alpine Endurance Team has the means to compete at the highest level. This final season must therefore be approached with that clear ambition, namely to bring a cycle to its conclusion while remaining faithful to what built it — rigour, progress and the ability to extract performance over time.
And in those circumstances, there can be no doubt about the objective: to run at the front, defend this programme right to the end and, one final time, offer a strong image to those who have followed it for more than a decade.
Source: Alpine Endurance Team
