As Alpine continues to prepare its A424 hypercar, the team confirmed on Wednesday the six drivers who will be behind the wheel of its two World Endurance Championship cars in Qatar for the start of the 2024 season.
Bruno Famin, VP Alpine Motorsports, said, “At this decisive phase for the A424 program, we are proud to reveal the six drivers who will race for us in the Hypercar category in 2024. With Philippe Sinault, we wanted drivers who are not only fast and reliable, but also showing a real team spirit and good racing acumen to best represent the Alpine colors in the premier category of the World Endurance Championship.
“We are absolutely delighted to have these six drivers and we hope they will all bring their own experience and qualities to the project, for example Charles (Milesi) with his youth, Nicolas (Lapierre) with his experience in Endurance to mentor the younger drivers, and also Mick (Schumacher) with his experience gained at the highest level.
“It might be his first foray into Endurance, but his enthusiasm for the project and his will to join us are palpable.”
Schumacher is confirmed for the 2024 season at Alpine as he keeps charting his own course in motor racing.
A winner in F4, he won the 2018 European F3 title before winning the Formula 2 championship two years later. Promoted to F1, the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher raced for the Haas F1 Team in 2021 and 2022 before moving to Mercedes as a reserve driver.
Last October, Mick Schumacher drove an endurance prototype for the first time.
Working with the Alpine team, the German driver learned the subtleties of this new machine under the watchful eye of his future teammates. Following this promising first foray, Alpine and Schumacher decided to take up the challenge together in 2024 in the premier class of endurance racing, amongst the most renowned drivers in the discipline.
“A new chapter is beginning for me with Alpine in the FIA WEC Hypercar category. The car is impressive, and I can’t wait to get started. I’ve grown up with single-seaters, so driving a car with a closed cockpit and covered wheels is a great opportunity to hone my driving skills,” Schumacher said.
“I sorely missed racing this year; it’s what I’ve loved to do since I was a kid, and it was sometimes difficult to watch the other drivers take to the track. Endurance racing is a new challenge for me, and I’m sure we will share great moments together next year with Alpine.”
Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Charles Milesi, Paul-Loup Chatin and Ferdinand Habsburg are also confirmed drivers.