The fifth of the eight rounds of the 2024 season saw the FIA WEC travel to South America for the 6 Hours of São Paulo, a race which returned to the calendar after a ten-year absence.

 

 

After a short but meticulous preparation, the team discovered the Interlagos circuit on Friday. Despite a turbocharger alert and change as a precaution on the #36 car in FP2, the team conducted productive testing to fine-tune their set-up over 237 laps, or more than 1,000 kilometres. On Saturday, Charles Milesi and Mick Schumacher tackled qualifying on the Brazilian track. After a hard-fought session, the German driver barely missed advancing to the Hyperpole while the Frenchman finished 13th, just 0.035s behind his teammate.

 

 

Mick Schumacher and Paul-Loup Chatin were on hard tyres on Sunday and used caution to avoid the pitfalls at the start, completing the opening lap in 14th and 15th place. However, the #35 Alpine A424 slipped down the order when Paul-Loup Chatin locked up a wheel at the entrance to the ‘S’ do Senna. After spinning, the Frenchman rejoined the race among the LMGT3s before catching up to the Hypercars.

 

 

The two drivers gradually settled into their pace to make up ground. Tenth after the first hour, Mick Schumacher battled with the #83 Ferrari. Meanwhile, Ferdinand Habsburg took his place in the #35 car. Mick Schumacher had to deal with increased tyre degradation in his second stint but stayed in the top ten by overcoming several challenges in the field, including the collision between the #83 Ferrari and the #99 Porsche just ahead of him. The German then handed over to Matthieu Vaxiviere, while Ferdinand Habsburg briefly took the lead before giving way to Charles Milesi.

 

 

The Frenchmen continued the work of their teammates to cross the halfway mark in 8th and 12th place. Matthieu Vaxiviere was replaced shortly afterwards by Nicolas Lapierre. Despite a heated exchange with the #83 Ferrari, Nicolas Lapierre retaliated immediately before setting off for another stint. Charles Milesi also made his mark, notably with an overtake on the #20 BMW, until Paul-Loup Chatin replaced him after more than two hours of race action.

 

 

Eleventh and thirteenth going into the final hour, the team entrusted the final sprint to Mick Schumacher in the #36, while Paul-Loup Chatin carried out a final splash and dash with 24 minutes remaining in the #35. The two drivers battled for 10th place, with the German gaining the advantage. Mick Schumacher continued his faultless drive to finish 10th under the chequered flag and seal the first point of the season for the #36 Alpine A424 crew, two places ahead of the sister car.

 

 

Alpine Endurance Team now enters the summer break, having learned much from a weekend which attracted 73,205 spectators. The FIA World Endurance Championship returns to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (USA) for Lone Star Le Mans, a six-hour race from 30 August to 1 September.

 

Charles Milesi
"We made some small mistakes, but I think 10th place was the best result we could've hoped for, and I am pleased the #36 managed to take It. I couldn't do what I wanted to do In qualifying as I was blocked on my warm-up laps, and I made a small mistake In the final corner of my best lap. We've got six weeks to prepare for Austin, where it will likely be much hotter, and we will try to be on pace right from the start."

 


Ferdinand Habsburg
"It was nice to race in Brazil in the FIA World Endurance Championship, although the result was disappointing. We had the potential to be in the top ten and should have scored points. However, I'm pleased we finished without any issues and that I finished my first complete race since returning from my recovery. All this gives us an excellent confidence boost before the season resumes In Texas."

 


Paul-Loup Chatin
"We can take a lot of positives from this race. We still lack a bit of performance, but we showed some good things by being reactive on strategy. We lost out on the top ten because of my mistake at the start of the race. However, I'm proud of the team's responsiveness, as we took risks and adapted to the track conditions to continue our learning phase, although as competitors, we always want more."

 


Matthieu Vaxiviere
"We ran a clean race, although it was one of the hardest races of my career as I was ill on Sunday. My teammates and the team did an excellent job in enabling us to score the #36's first point. However, we still have much understanding, development and improvement work to do with the car to unlock more pace in Austin and continue our progress."

 


Mick Schumacher
"I enjoyed it a lot today with a clean race, lots of track time and some nice battles. We could have fought higher with slightly different decisions but still scored our first point of the season. We have the potential and the speed to score more, so we still have a long way to go. We can and we have to improve in many areas before Austin."

 


Nicolas Lapierre
"Overall, it was a faultless race, although we lacked some pace at times, and the tyre choices proved a bit tricky due to the warmer temperatures on Sunday. It was rewarding and enjoyable as a driver with some fantastic on-track battles. This first point for our team is positive, but we need to analyse our race to keep improving during the summer break."

 


Philippe Sinault, Team Principal
"We had to send out a signal and start a new positive dynamic after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We did so with both cars at the finish, even though only tenth and twelfth after six hours of intense battling. We lacked some understanding of tyres in these conditions with the highly variable temperatures. Still, we leave Interlagos with a lot of useful information in this area, which is where we need to improve the most. Both crews put in a serious and solid performance, with the team making some good stops and the #36 scoring its first point. The cars now head to Austin, where we'll have to apply what we've learnt this week to keep reducing the gap to our rivals."

 


CLASSIFICATIONS


6 Hours of São Paulo
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing n°8
2. Porsche Penske Motorsport n°6
3. Porsche Penske Motorsport n°5
10. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°36
12. Alpine Elf Endurance Team n°35


FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers' Championship
1. Estre / Lotterer / Vanthoor – 117 points
2. Fuoco / Molina / Nielsen – 98 points
3. de Vries / Kobayashi – 95 points
15. Chatin / Milesi – 11 points
18. Habsburg – 9 points
25. Lapierre / Schumacher / Vaxiviere – 1 point
26. Gounon – 0 point


FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship
1. Porsche – 126 points
2. Toyota – 122 points
3. Ferrari – 109 points
5. Alpine – 25 points