Jules Gounon could be promoted to a regular driver by Alpine for the final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain in November.
The move is part of the same plan, put in place earlier in the season, that saw the Frenchman replace Paul-Loup Chatin in the #35 A424 LMDh for last weekend’s Fuji round, Motorsport.com has learned.
This time, the official Mercedes-AMG driver would take the place of Charles Milesi, who drives the #35, although the French manufacturer has not yet confirmed this hypothesis.
The 29-year-old, who replaced the injured Ferdinand Habsburg in the #35 at the Imola and Spa rounds in April and May respectively, looks set to be in contention for a permanent seat next year.
Speculation along these lines has been fuelled by his promotion to the race at Fuji, which was designed to give him “the opportunity to continue his learning process in Hypercars”, according to Alpine.
Renault brand motorsport boss Bruno Famin declined to confirm that changes to the 2025 line-up were being considered. When asked, he repeated the phrase “one thing at a time.”
#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Jules Gounon
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Gounon, whose father Jean-Marc finished second in the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours driving a McLaren F1 GTR GTC, has made no secret of his aspirations to compete at the top level of sportscar racing and described victory in the WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours as “my biggest goal and my biggest dream”.
But he also said he preferred to talk about Fuji when quizzed in Japan last weekend about a possible full-time future with Alpine, confirming he is still contracted to Mercedes as part of its GT3 roster for another year in 2025, but insisting that this would not necessarily stop him racing for Alpine in the WEC full-time, on top of his commitments to the German manufacturer.
“It could be a possibility,” responded Gounon, who, when his deal with Alpine was announced in February, revealed that he had gone to the home of Mercedes-AMG customer racing boss Stefan Wendl and begged him to let him go on this adventure.
He also revealed at the time that there had been talks of a full-time WEC entry with Alpine for 2024. “Mercedes have been fantastic for me over the last three years and it wouldn’t have been right to go against them,” he said.
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Mick Schumacher
Photo by: Andreas Beil
That said, there is still uncertainty over Mick Schumacher’s seat for next year.
The former Haas Formula 1 driver, who has combined his role as Mercedes test and reserve driver with that of an Alpine works driver in the WEC this year, has repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether he will commit to the series in 2025, stressing that a return to a full-time F1 seat remains his priority, even if there are now only two vacancies.
“I’m still thinking about F1. My plans for next year are quite open: nothing is confirmed, nothing is done,” said the German.
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