Alpine have endured a mixed first season in the World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class with their A424 car.
The French manufacturer have lacked raw speed and failed to consistently challenge Porsche and Toyota at the front of the field.
Alpine have suffered from unreliability at times over the year, taking pain from a double retirement at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Their luck in WEC finally turned last time out at the 6 Hours of Fuji as the No. 36 car took third place, while Toyota and Ferrari only saw the chequered flag with one car each.
Former Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher was vital in Alpine standing on the podium for the first time this year at Fuji, passing Team Jota’s Norman Nato 208 laps into the race.
Schumacher was delighted to push Alpine towards their first podium of the season but conceded they still lack raw speed when speaking to the official WEC website.
Mick Schumacher is adamant Alpine need to ‘work on our pace’ in WEC
The third place scored by Alpine’s No. 36 should give the team a boost ahead of the final round of the championship in Bahrain.
Despite taking the trophy home from Japan they did have a slice of luck as multiple cars from other manufacturers failed to see the chequered flag.
This opened the door for Alpine to pick their way through the field and take a podium, although they didn’t have the outright speed to challenge those cars from Ferrari and Toyota.
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Schumacher is aware of the team’s shortcomings and wants to see more pace from the Alpine A424 but acknowledged they are going in the right direction.
He said: “It’s a positive result for the team and everyone involved in the project. We deserved this podium after fighting so hard when success wasn’t on our side.
“Fortunately, that wasn’t the case [in Japan], but we still have to work on our pace. We’re heading in the right direction, and we want more. We’re all here to win, so let’s keep giving it everything we’ve got.”
Alpine will be looking to build towards a successful 2025 WEC campaign
The 2024 season has been underwhelming for Alpine, failing to battle at the front in the Hypercar class over the year.
They have improved, but next season may be their main focus as they are out of contention for either title heading into the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
Next year’s calendar is the same as the 2024 season which should allow Alpine to develop at a quicker rate on circuit’s they have experience on.
Alpine also have a lot of talent among their drivers, including Schumacher, who has developed and was vital to scoring third place in Japan.