ALPINE SWITCHES TO TWO-DRIVER CREWS FOR THE FINAL WEC RACES
Alpine has changed its driver strategy for the final part of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season. From the 6 Hours of Fuji onwards, both Alpine A424 Hypercars will compete with two-driver line-ups instead of the three-driver crews used earlier in the season.
In the #35 Alpine, António Félix da Costa leaves the line-up, with Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg set to share the car at Fuji. The same pairing will continue for the following races in Barcelona and Monza. In the #36, Frédéric Makowiecki leaves the crew, while Jules Gounon and Victor Martins will continue together for the final three rounds.
The change is significant because Alpine had started the 2026 season with three drivers in each car. Da Costa joined Habsburg and Milesi in the #35, while Makowiecki shared the #36 with Gounon and Martins. The original WEC entry list also confirmed those six drivers for the season.
Alpine has not publicly explained why it decided to remove Da Costa and Makowiecki from the crews. Reports indicate that neither driver is currently expected to return for the final two races in Barcelona and Monza, although Alpine has not formally confirmed that their 2026 campaigns are finished.
The decision comes at an interesting point in Alpine’s final Hypercar season. The French manufacturer announced before the 2026 campaign that this would be its third and final season in the top class of the WEC with the A424. The programme started in 2024 and reached its first major result in 2025, when Habsburg, Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin won the 6 Hours of Fuji.
Fuji will therefore be an important return for Milesi and Habsburg. One year ago, the two drivers were part of Alpine’s first Hypercar victory at the Japanese circuit. They will now return as a two-driver crew, giving each of them more driving time during the six-hour race.
The change also comes after Alpine’s strongest combined result of the 2026 season so far. At the Lone Star Le Mans in Austin, the #35 finished third with Da Costa, Habsburg and Milesi, giving Alpine its first podium of the year. The #36 finished fifth with Makowiecki, Gounon and Martins, giving the team a double top-five result. Alpine currently sits fifth in the Hypercar manufacturers’ championship with 66 points.
The move to two drivers is also possible because the 2026 WEC calendar contains shorter races than in previous seasons. Fuji, Barcelona and Monza are all six-hour events, while the calendar no longer includes the longer Qatar and Bahrain races that previously required more drivers in each car. Other Hypercar teams have also used two-driver crews during the 2026 season.
For Da Costa and Makowiecki, the change creates uncertainty about their immediate future with Alpine. Da Costa had been an important part of the #35 crew during the first five races of the season, while Makowiecki joined Gounon and Martins in the #36. Their absence from the final races could also have implications for their plans beyond Alpine’s WEC programme, which ends after the 2026 season.
The 6 Hours of Fuji will be the first test of Alpine’s new strategy. The race takes place on September 27 and is the sixth round of the 2026 WEC season. After Japan, the championship will visit Barcelona in October before finishing at Monza in November.
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