Alpine has dropped António Félix da Costa and Frédéric Makowiecki from its lineup for the 6 Hours of Fuji, leaving both A424 Hypercars with two-driver crews for the September 25 to 27 FIA World Endurance Championship event.
Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg will share the No. 35, with Jules Gounon and Victor Martins driving the sister Alpine. The revised lineup was reported Wednesday, September 23, ahead of the opening practice session at Fuji Speedway.
That creates a different engineering workload for Alpine in round six. Setup development, tire evaluation and race stints must be divided between two drivers in each car instead of a three-driver rotation.
Two-driver crews reshape Alpine's program
Free Practice 1 begins at 10:15 on Friday, September 25, with Free Practice 2 following at 14:30. Those sessions give Alpine its first chance to distribute the A424's setup work between the revised pairings.
The confirmed information lists no specific aerodynamic changes, tire compounds or fuel targets for either car. There are also no Fuji speed-trap figures, sector times or degradation data. Alpine's technical direction will become measurable once its cars start running Friday.
The lineup change brings a clear operational difference. Milesi and Habsburg will cover every driving assignment in the No. 35, from initial balance checks to long-run tire work. Gounon and Martins will split the same duties in the other A424.
Each driver will get a larger portion of the available track time if Alpine divides the sessions evenly, although the team hasn't revealed its run plan.
Austin provides the latest pace reference
The No. 35 heads to Fuji after Milesi, Habsburg and Da Costa finished third at the Lone Star Le Mans in Austin. The result earned 15 points, behind the winning No. 50 Ferrari crew's 25 and the second-place Cadillac crew's 18.
Alpine's finishing position came after a late change to the order. The No. 7 Toyota suffered a terminal mechanical problem with 11 minutes remaining, while Cadillac moved into second after Alpine received a penalty.
Those results are the latest confirmed competitive reference, but they don't define Alpine's expected pace at Fuji. The available data includes no comparable sector split, top-speed figure or stint-degradation number from Austin. Friday's running will provide the first direct comparison in Fuji's circuit conditions.
Fuji demands a fresh setup baseline
Alpine has reached the overall podium in every year it has raced at Fuji Speedway, including the A424's maiden victory there in the previous season.
That record gives Alpine a proven result at the circuit, but the team hasn't specified which setup elements from that victory will transfer to 2026. With a shorter driver roster, it also can't directly repeat the previous three-driver working pattern.
Aerodynamic configuration will be a key item to watch once timing starts. The available notes include no wing settings or drag measurements, leaving no verified basis for comparing Alpine's straight-line compromise against Ferrari, Cadillac, Toyota or the other Hypercar manufacturers before practice.
Braking and energy use are also unknown.
No brake-temperature figures, fuel-consumption numbers or lift-and-coast targets have been released. Across six hours, both drivers in each car must consistently reproduce Alpine's chosen procedures, but the team's exact management thresholds haven't been disclosed.
Tire behavior will emerge across Friday
Michelin has identified Fuji as a unique challenge, making tire preparation one of the weekend's main technical subjects. The confirmed material provides no compound allocation, pressure figure or wear rate.
Free Practice 2 starts at 14:30 on Friday and should provide the best early opportunity for longer runs after the opening work at 10:15. Any difference between the No. 35 and its sister car will indicate whether Alpine has split its setup program or settled on one baseline.
Saturday brings another checkpoint. Free Practice 3 begins at 09:50 on September 26, followed by Hypercar qualifying at 15:00 and Hyperpole at 15:20.
That will separate short-run speed from race preparation. Qualifying will reveal outright pace, while Friday's longer sequences should indicate how the A424 holds its lap time as the tires age. Verified lap times and sector data aren't available yet because the event hasn't started.
Stint planning moves to two drivers
The six-hour format puts Alpine's revised crew structure at the heart of its race planning. Da Costa helped Milesi and Habsburg take third in Austin, but he won't join the No. 35 rotation at Fuji. Makowiecki is also absent from the other car.
Alpine hasn't announced who will start either A424, how the race stints will be divided or whether both cars will run matching tire strategies. The available information also contains no confirmed fuel-window calculation.
The first hard evidence comes Friday at 10:15, when Milesi, Habsburg, Gounon and Martins start Alpine's revised Fuji program in Free Practice 1.
