Alpine Endurance Team signed off its final season in Alpine colours with second place at the 6 Hours of Monza, the WEC season finale. Jules Gounon and Victor Martins took the A424 n°36 to the team’s seventh Hypercar podium. The sister car retired after an accident, and Alpine finished fifth in the manufacturers’ standings with 122 points.
A wet and changeable start to the weekend
Cold, unsettled weather shaped Friday at Monza. The first practice session ran on a fully wet track with standing water. Charles Milesi still put the n°35 A424 at the top of the times, and Victor Martins was third in the n°36.
The track stayed damp for much of the second session. The n°36 ran near the front on wet tyres, then the field switched to slicks in the final 15 minutes and it ended up fourth. The n°35 was tenth, and the team says it used the session to work on balance and braking stability for the race.
In qualifying, Martins reached Hyperpole and put the n°36 sixth on the grid. Milesi missed the Hyperpole cut by 0.074 seconds and started the n°35 from eleventh.
Contention for the n°36, heartbreak for the n°35
Jules Gounon got the n°36 into the leading group at the start. He ran third for much of the opening phase and stayed within reach of the front before handing over to Martins.
Ferdinand Habsburg started the n°35 from eleventh. After a difficult opening spell, he brought the car back into the fight. Milesi kept up the recovery after taking over and was fifth as the race passed half-distance. Then Milesi crashed on the exit of Parabolica, which ended the car’s race.
In the final hour, Martins closed in on the leader. Victory went to the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA #38 of Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Jack Aitken. The n°36 finished second after six hours, with the Ferrari AF Corse #51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi third. The team reported a crowd of 75,181.
There is a little frustration because the victory was within reach at one point, but Cadillac managed its energy very well. Finishing on the podium is a fantastic reward for everyone in the team. — Victor Martins
The end of a long partnership
Monza also marked the end of Alpine’s long partnership with Signatech, which began in 2013. In LMP2, the pairing won the European Le Mans Series in 2013 and 2014, took FIA WEC LMP2 titles in 2016, 2018 and 2019, and won the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
It then moved up to endurance racing’s top class. There it scored an overall podium at Le Mans in 2021 and won outright at Sebring and Monza in 2022. The A424 took its first Hypercar podium at Fuji in 2024 and won there a year later.
Team Principal Philippe Sinault said the team had stayed committed to the end “despite knowing that this would be our final season in Alpine colours”. He also said: “Cadillac was stronger today, but our race execution, operational performance and the work of the drivers were flawless.”
Gounon called the result “a slightly bittersweet feeling”, because the team had hoped to fight for victory. Milesi said the team needed to “analyse precisely what happened” in his accident, but that the podium and the way the programme ended were what mattered most.
Sporting Director Nicolas Lapierre said it had been important to leave “one final positive impression after an especially strong second half of the season on track”.
What it means
Second place gave the A424 a strong final race and left Alpine fifth of the Hypercar manufacturers for 2026, on 122 points. The team’s results improved through the season, and Sinault said it had fought for victory in the closing rounds without quite getting a win.
Facts: Alpine at the 2026 6 Hours of Monza
- Result, n°36 (Gounon/Martins): 2nd
- Result, n°35 (Habsburg/Milesi): retired after an accident at Parabolica
- Grid: n°36 6th, n°35 11th
- Hypercar podiums for the programme: 7
- 2026 manufacturers’ championship: 5th, 122 points
- Race winner: Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA #38
The Monza finale closes Alpine’s 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Source: media.alpinecars.com