Mick Schumacher’s team-mate Charles Milesi sets out Alpine’s battle plan for the 2024 WEC season – podium finishes achievable in the first year
The World Endurance Championship (WEC) pre-test begins on Saturday (or later), with the season opener taking place the following weekend. Mick Schumacher will be doing his first official laps in the WEC in the Alpine A424
While the German is still attending the Formula 1 tests a good 100 kilometers to the north-west, his team-mate Charles Milesi from the sister car 35, which he shares with Ferdinand Habsburg among others, is giving the first interviews in Lusail. Among other things, he explains Signatech-Alpine’s goals for the first year with the LMDh car.
Milesi, who won the LMP2 title with WRT in his first WEC season in 2021, is cautious when it comes to setting targets. Nevertheless, he is certain that Alpine can fight for podium places: “I think we can definitely do it. Of course, we don’t know exactly when.”
There is a simple reason for this: the Alpine A424 has not yet come up against the competition. This will be the case for the first time at the prologue. “At the moment, it’s difficult to know exactly where we stand in terms of pace. We will certainly have some answers in Qatar,” says Milesi.
In 2023, Porsche and Cadillac managed to finish on the podium in the hypercar class in the first year with LMDh vehicles. However, the competition back then was not as strong as it is this year. With nine manufacturers and 19 cars, the Hypercar class is stronger than ever before.
“It’s difficult to say what is a success and what is a failure,” the 22-year-old continued. “We will now try to get the car running properly, collect a few race kilometers and prepare for Le Mans. That’s what it’s mainly about. “
“There are other manufacturers coming too, so it won’t be easy. Everyone knows that the standard in the WEC is now very high. We just have to stay focused and, as I said, improve from race to race, then we’ll see where we stand. “
Unique focus on Le Mans
The three WEC races in Qatar, Imola and Spa-Francorchamps are merely preparatory races for Le Mans for all manufacturers: “Winning Le Mans in the first year will certainly be difficult because we are just now trying to get the car ready for it. Qatar will be a big test for us, both in terms of performance and reliability over ten hours.”
“The other tests are simply about preparing the team for the big race [Le Mans]. It’s a bit different for both the drivers and the engineers. We have to be ready for Le Mans. At the moment we are only thinking about Le Mans.”
Alpine Motorsport boss Bruno Famin speaks of “not a baptism of fire, but we are getting closer to it. It will be our first test in real conditions, with all our rivals on the track. We know that we still have a lot to learn at all levels. “
He has set three priorities for the prologue: to work on the set-up of the car and the different systems, to further integrate the different areas of the team and to understand the tires on a track that he describes as atypical.
“The whole Alpine Endurance team is working hard to make this session as productive as possible. We still have a long way to go, but I trust in the commitment of everyone, from the mechanics to the drivers.”
Signatech Team Principal Philippe Sinault adds: “This is our first real test after the development phase. We know that we are facing a big challenge. This moment is a reward for the team’s efforts.
It will only take seven months from the rollout to the first race. “But being there in Qatar is not the real goal. We know that we still have a long way to go in this instructive season,” warns Sinault. Alpine invested around a week of simulator work in the run-up to the test