Alpine to conclude on a high note at the 8 Hours of Bahrain
After its podium finish and interesting race pace at Fuji, the French team wants to continue on this momentum to finish the season beautifully.
The end is approaching. But it will also be the beginning of a new story. In Bahrain, Alpine will end its first season with the A424. So, the moment will be ideal to take stock of the return to the top category of the French team.
This event will also mark Nicolas Lapierre’s debut as sporting director. Although the Frenchman is not officially committed to this position in 2025, he will take advantage of the 8 Hours of Bahrain to get his bearings and have a first glimpse of what awaits him.
A severe degradation of the tires
In terms of sports level, the crews of the two cars will be slightly different. For ergonomic reasons, Charles Milesi will replace Nicolas Lapierre alongside Matthieu Vaxiviere and Mick Schumacher, while reserve driver Jules Gounon will make his fourth start of the year by joining Paul-Loup Chatin and Ferdinand Habsburg in the sister car.
Several weeks after the first podium of the A424 at Fuji, the Hypercar will try to be at the forefront in the desert. But for that, an important parameter must be taken into account. Tire degradation.
Close by 2024 as best as possible
We will have to find the best compromises to be efficient on all of our relays, especially on a longer event than usual and characterized by strong temperature variations between day and night. This should pave the way for less conventional strategic choices, announces Philippe Sinault, the team principal.
We saw beautiful things in Austin and Fuji, but everyone on the team is aware of the work that remains to be done before entering an intense off-season behind the scenes to prepare for the 2025 season. Bahrain will therefore be an interesting step in this direction.
After the arrival, the team will stay on site Sunday for the Rookie test, where Jules Gounon and Victor Martins will share the driving of the car.
