WEC | Lapierre: “Alpine humble at the start, competitive in the medium term”

Nicolas Lapierre will return to racing full-time in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship as captain of the Alpine team.

The veteran spent much of 2023 behind the scenes growing the A424 LMDh which will debut in the Hypercar Class this year, still managed by Signatech and with the great desire to face a challenge for which the foundations had been laid in the two-year period of 2021 -2022 deploying the Oreca LMP1.

“Personally, it's great to be back racing in the World Championship, especially now that there are so many new manufacturers in this category. We know that the challenge will be demanding and we are working hard to make the car as competitive as possible”, said the Frenchman in the round table with the media invited by the FIA ​​WEC, including Motorsport.com.

“We are still trying to improve for homologation, it's all really exciting, especially thinking about the prestigious Alpine brand and its history. I hope we can continue to write a good story at Le Mans and I can't wait to go there” .

The preparation starts a long time ago and there have been very intense tests throughout the winter, even if the first race which will take place in Qatar represents an unknown for everyone.

“In Qatar we know that it won't be easy at all due to the type of track and the temperatures, while the others will be more normal, even if we don't know all of them and we will have some unknowns.”

“But it's nice to have an extra track on the calendar, it's good for the championship. Now we'll also work hard on the simulator to prepare for the races, also because the development of the car took a long time and we don't have all the circuits able to visit during the trials, having been mostly in Europe”.

“It will be a great challenge for the engineers to prepare things for the tracks we don't know and adapt all the systems, but the simulator today helps a lot with this too.”

Photo by: Alpine

Alpine A424

During the tests carried out, as mentioned, largely on European tracks, the results were very satisfactory, but you certainly won't be able to arrive at the debut with the nerve of someone who wants to get everything straight away, something that Lapierre makes clear immediately.

“The tests went well, we put together a lot of km and the car works. But we have to be humble and aware that the first race won't be easy, also because we mainly carried out the tests alone on the track, so we can't know where we are towards our rivals.”

“We don't know our pace and we also have to take into consideration that last year no LMDh won a race, but in the medium term we can certainly be competitive.”

“In Qatar it will be really tough because the level of competition is very high and will grow even more with the arrival of other teams and brands who have a lot of experience. For this reason, as a first season, we have no particular expectations.”

Photo by: Alpine

Alpine A424

We will have to wait until Wednesday 7 February to see the A424 in its final forms and with the definitive livery, during the presentation organized together with the Formula 1 team to once again highlight how all the departments of the French company work hand in hand, especially after having taken into hand the engine design and having developed it for the WEC.

“For the first time the presentation will take place together with F1, which will be very nice. Alpine is one of the few teams involved in both championships, we know that the levels are very high and we are looking for synergies to work together, mainly on the engine thermal and hybrid”.

“The Alpine Racing team in Viry-Châtillon is also working hard on the LMDh program, exploiting synergies with Formula E as well. Everyone in the team is working hard to make this project grow quickly.”

“We had to work a lot to adapt this engine to endurance racing, the structure is the same, but inside the components have been changed a lot.”

“One of Alpine's strengths is having many benches for the engine in Viry-Châtillon, we have already been able to run it for 30 hours combined with simulations, so from this point of view, to date, we are happy and calm, then there is also the awareness that the situations are different at Le Mans.”

Photo by: Alpine

Mick Schumacher, Alpine

Finally, the transalpine was inevitably asked to comment on his new teammate, Mick Schumacher, ready to make his debut in the WEC in an adventure yet to be discovered.

“Let's not forget that he is a boy coming from single-seaters, but every day he is learning more and more. He likes endurance and the car, as well as sharing it with his teammates.”

“He did two tests with us and they went very well. Obviously the difficult aspect of endurance remains race and traffic management, but in terms of pace he is really good.”

“We knew he was competitive since his single-seater days, but here he is proving it. And the important thing is that he likes this world, as well as the spirit, he is getting into the role very well.”

“Now he will have other tests to prepare for the season, but it's nice to see him grow and have him with us. We don't know how fast he can be in Qatar because it's hard to do it straight away, but for now it's fine.”