Alpine Endurance Team shows pace in FP3, leaves Imola qualifying wanting more

On the ever-demanding Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Alpine Endurance Team delivered a broadly convincing performance on Saturday… without leaving fully satisfied.

In a FIA World Endurance Championship where everything is now decided by mere tenths, the hierarchy is revealed as much through results as through missed opportunities.

Alpine Endurance Team: a FP3 in continuity, #35 delivers, #36 stays in the fight

The third free practice session did not disrupt the established order, but it confirmed one essential point: the Alpine A424 is now a car capable of regularly mixing it at the front.

FP3 classification

Just three tenths off the Ferrari benchmark, Charles Milesi places the #35 in a very credible position. What stands out most, beyond outright pace, is the overall cleanliness of the package: a stable, predictable car that no longer seems to suffer from the balance swings seen earlier in the programme.

The #36, meanwhile, remains buried in the heart of the pack. But here again, the raw classification is misleading: the gap remains limited, and the slightest detail — traffic, tyre preparation — is enough to swing several positions.

Qualifying: a logical outcome… but a slightly frustrating one

When it came time to turn that potential into a result, Alpine stayed within its window… without quite managing to make the extra step.

Qualifying result

The #35 did what was required: a place in Hyperpole, a clean performance, no major mistakes. But in a context where Alpine had flirted with the very top in practice, this sixth place leaves a lingering impression of untapped potential.

By contrast, the #36 embodies the frustration of the day. Just over two tenths short of the top 10, it falls at the final hurdle to Hyperpole. Nothing dramatic, but on a grid this tight, it is precisely this kind of detail that makes the difference between visibility and anonymity.

Starting grid: a very real opportunity remains

The final hierarchy nevertheless remains consistent with the level shown since the start of the weekend. The #35 settles into the group of top-five contenders, while the #36 retains every chance in a race where strategy and traffic management will carry major weight.

A step forward… and already higher expectations

That may well be the main lesson from Saturday: Alpine is changing status.

A seventh place on the grid would have been praised without reservation just a year ago. Today, it comes with a slight sense of unfinished business. Not because the performance is lacking — it is not — but because the car now seems capable of aiming higher.

The work carried out on the A424, particularly through the latest aerodynamic developments, has produced a more consistent platform, one that is easier to exploit over a single lap. But in a championship where Ferrari, Toyota and Peugeot optimize every parameter, the slightest tenth left on the table is immediately punished.

Beyond the track itself, this Imola weekend comes within a very particular context for Alpine. In February, the manufacturer confirmed that 2026 would be the final season of the Alpine A424 programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship, drawing a line under an effort launched in 2024 with this Oreca-based LMDh prototype.

A major strategic decision, one that could have weakened the team. Yet the exact opposite appears to be happening.

As Ferdinand Habsburg explains, the internal effect was immediate:

“I expected a negative reaction… but it was the opposite. At the factory, in the simulator, in testing, everyone raised their game. Nothing was held back, we are in full attack mode.”

Victor Martins, a new arrival in endurance racing, strikes the same note:

“In my career, I’ve never really known what the following year would look like. It changes nothing: I’m here to perform and to enjoy this with the team.”

Internally, the feeling is shared right up to the top of the technical structure. Axel Plasse speaks of a transformed team:

“You can feel a huge amount of energy. This announcement has strengthened everyone’s commitment and determination.”

When aero changes everything: the Alpine A424 takes a step forward

This rise in competitiveness is no accident. The 2026-spec A424 is built around a major aerodynamic evolution, designed to correct the limitations of the original concept.

Introduced in 2024, the car favoured a low-drag philosophy, one quickly undermined by the evolution of the Balance of Performance — notably the introduction of the two-stage system, which narrowed straight-line speed differences, especially at Le Mans.

The result: Alpine had to rethink its approach.

According to Ferdinand Habsburg, the gain is immediately noticeable:

“You can feel it straight away in your neck: more downforce. At Aragón, through the fast corners, we carry much more speed than before.”

Frédéric Makowiecki offers the same assessment, insisting on the overall balance:

“We were clearly lacking downforce last year, especially in the wet. Now we’ve gained downforce and, above all, balance. Before, we always had to compromise between understeer and oversteer.”

A key point, and one reflected in the performance seen at Imola: a healthier, more exploitable car, even if this circuit — mechanically demanding and relatively slow — still does not allow the aerodynamic gains to be fully expressed. Spa should provide a clearer verdict against Ferrari or Cadillac.

An open race

Nothing is decided yet.

The #35 starts from an ideal position to capitalize on its pace, while the #36 will be able to exploit greater strategic freedom. At Imola, where overtaking remains difficult, stint management and pit-stop timing will be decisive.

In short, Alpine has validated the essentials: being in the fight.
What remains now is to turn that presence into a standout result.

🔗 Also worth reading on Les Alpinistes

Alpine Endurance Team kicks off its 2026 season at Imola with strong Hypercar promise

Alpine Endurance Team – FP1 & FP2 results at Imola: an encouraging start

Source: Sportcars 365