(Motorsport-Total.com) – More points in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Mick Schumacher, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere, even if more could have been achieved at the Lone Star Le Mans. The sister car #35 (Chatin/Habsburg/Milesi) shone with top-5 results in both qualifying and the race.
For Alpine, the Lone Star Le Mans was the most successful WEC race to date Zoom
The #36 remained in ninth place in a real race of attrition on the Circuit of the Americas. First, Matthieu Vaxiviere lost all positions in the starting chaos at Turn 1 and had to line up last in the Hypercar field, although his start itself was not too bad.
After a penalty for Ferdinand Habsburg for braking too late on the first lap, the two Alpine A424s finished in 16th and 17th place and it initially looked like another difficult race for the Renault subsidiary.
Photos: WEC 2024: Lone Star Le Mans, Race
Now Mick Schumacher got into the car for the first time. Both Alpines overtook the Proton Porsche #99 during his stint. In the middle part of the race, the Alpines continued to gain positions, the #35 slightly more than the #36. The longer the race lasted, the better the blue cars got going.
Alpine saved the joker drivers for the final sprint. In the #36 it was Schumacher, in the #35 Charles Milesi. Both drove a double stint at the end of the race, in which they also achieved the second fastest (Milesi; 1:52.584) and third fastest lap times (Schumacher; 1:52.633) of the entire race, only beaten by the fastest lap of Toyota driver Kamui Kobayashi in 1:52.564 minutes.
Milesi and Schumacher set the pace
Schumacher took over the #36 in eleventh place, Milesi the #35 in eighth place. Since both were driving at similar speeds, they also made similar amounts of ground. In the end, Schumacher brought the #36 home in ninth place, while Milesi secured fifth place.
Driver performance Alpine Lone Star Le Mans:
1. Charles Milesi (92 laps) – 1:53.431 minutes (#35)
2. Mick Schumacher (87 laps) – 1:53.574 minutes (#36)
3. Ferdinand Habsburg (60 laps) – 1:54.061 minutes (#35)
4. Matthieu Vaxiviere (63 laps) – 1:54.439 minutes (#36)
5. Nicolas Lapierre (32 laps) – 1:54.730 minutes (#36)
6. Paul-Loup Chatin (31 laps) – 1:54.871 minutes (#35)
To put it in context, it should be noted that Schumacher and Milesi drove at the end of the race, when the track was in the best condition. Chatin had to drive at the very beginning and was not used again for the rest of the race. Lapierre also only drove one stint, but as the third driver in the third hour, after Vaxiviere and Schumacher had each completed a stint. The track there already had a little more grip than Chatin’s.
Average of the 40 percent fastest laps of all Alpine drivers (number of laps driven in brackets) Zoom
Overall, the #35 was the slightly faster car. It is unclear whether different set-ups played a role, but one factor may have been the better “track position” of the #35. With fifth and ninth place, Alpine achieved the best WEC result of the season and thus of the still young program. For the first time, both cars finished in the points at the same time.
As a true team player, Mick Schumacher is particularly pleased with the team result: “Overall, it’s a great team result. I’m happy that we got both cars into the points.”
Of course there is still room for improvement. “But we must not forget that this is our first year in this sport. We are definitely moving in the right direction and can be satisfied with today’s performance.”
“The sister car did a great job, they drove a great race. We will keep pushing and look forward to Fuji. Let’s go full steam ahead!”
Qualifying: Wasp prevents Hyperpole entry
For the second time in a row, Mick Schumacher was allowed to take part in qualifying for the Alpine Endurance Team. A great vote of confidence from the team and a clear sign that he has consolidated his status as the fastest driver in the #36. But qualifying ended for him after the first session.
The Alpine #36 was seen with the door open and a surprised radio message was sent to Schumacher. There was also a wasp in the car. For a long time it was unclear what was cause and what was effect.
It is now clear: the wasp was there first. Schumacher opened the door to get rid of it: “Suddenly a wasp flew around. Then it flew forward and sat on the windshield. I was fine with that.”
“But then it suddenly flew towards my face,” reports the son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher. In closed cockpits, you drive with the visor open. “Then I opened the door and knocked it out of my face. It flew out. And then the team yelled at me, asking why I opened the door.”
After the incident, Mick Schumacher drove a lap time of 1:51.969 minutes, but that was not enough for the Hyperpole. He was upset after qualifying, but not because of the wasp.
“On my fastest lap, I had the Ferrari #50 in front of me for the entire third sector,” he says angrily. “And on the first lap, I had the Ferrari #83 in front of me. Here in the WEC, blocking other cars is apparently not punished as severely as in Formula 1.”
The WEC continues in two weeks at the Fuji Speedway.
