Alpine Cuts Fuji Crew to Two Drivers as Da Costa and Makowiecki Exit
Alpine scraps three-driver entries for Fuji, leaving da Costa and Makowiecki out of the final WEC races as Renault Group departs Hypercar.
Key points
- Alpine will use two-driver line-ups for the Fuji WEC race, dropping da Costa and Makowiecki from the entry.
- The switch to two drivers is possible because WEC replaced long-distance Middle East races with European six-hour events.
- Renault Group is leaving Hypercar at year's end, with Signatech seeking a new partner, potentially Geely, for 2027.
The pit lane at Fuji Speedway feels shorter this week. Alpine’s A424s sit with their rear wings catching the wind, but two familiar names are missing from the cockpit lists. Antonio Felix da Costa and Fred Makowiecki, who were listed on the original entry, will not race. The French manufacturer has stripped its Hypercar line-up back to two drivers per car, a tactical shift that reshapes the sixth round of the World Endurance Championship season.
Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi will share the #35 car, while Jules Gounon and Victor Martins take the wheel of the sister #36 entry. It is a clean break from the previous three-driver format, a change driven by the calendar’s new shape. With Qatar and Bahrain replaced by European six-hour events, the logistical burden of rotating three drivers has vanished. Teams now have more strategic freedom, and drivers gain extra track time in practice sessions.
Strategic freedom returns to Hypercar
Two-driver crews are no longer a rare exception in the top class. Aston Martin ran this format for every race except Le Mans this year. Cadillac did the same at Imola and Sao Paulo when Alex Lynn was absent. The shift offers a sharper edge in race strategy, allowing teams to manage tire wear and fuel loads with fewer handovers. It is a move that prioritizes consistency over the sheer endurance of a three-person rotation, fitting the shorter, more intense European races.
Renault group prepares to leave
This driver change lands in the middle of a turbulent period for the brand. Renault Group has announced it will exit Hypercar at the end of the year. Its operational partner, Signatech, is now hunting for a new manufacturer to take over the program from 2027. Chinese brand Geely is heavily linked to a potential tie-up, a move that would keep the A424 on the grid under a new flag. The uncertainty hangs over every session, a quiet undercurrent to the on-track action.
Da costa may join Cadillac
Da Costa’s departure from Alpine lends weight to rumors that he will join Cadillac next season. It would be a reunion with the Jota team, where he won Le Mans and the WEC LMP2 titles in 2022. The driver’s exit marks a chapter closed, even as the car remains. Alpine has struggled this season against stiff competition, though it did score its first podium of 2026 at Austin earlier this month. Da Costa, Milesi, and Habsburg finished third in the Lone Star Le Mans, a glimpse of the pace that remains in the chassis.
