Ferdinand Habsburg will race for Alpine for a third consecutive campaign in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s top-tier in 2026, as the experienced Austrian bids to build upon a breakthrough season with the squad last year.
Habsburg has been a familiar face and popular figure in the paddock since first entering the fray in 2021, when he sped to the LMP2 class crown with Team WRT as a series rookie, claiming his maiden victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 2024, the former European Le Mans Series title-winner joined forces with Alpine Endurance Team as he stepped up to FIA WEC’s headlining Hypercar category – finishing inside the top seven four times from six starts. Last season, Habsburg was part of the triumphant #35 crew in the championship’s milestone 100th race at Fuji in Japan, where he celebrated an emotional success with stablemates Paul-Loup Chatin and Charles Milesi.
Since then, 2019/20 Formula E king António Félix da Costa – who succeeded 28-year-old Habsburg as FIA WEC LMP2 champion in 2022 – and highly-rated single-seater convert Victor Martins have bolstered the French manufacturer’s line-up alongside the incumbent Frédéric Makowiecki, with today’s news meaning Alpine has only two seats left to fill in its pair of potent blue A424 Hypercars for the forthcoming campaign.
“Third time’s the charm, they say!” quipped Habsburg. “I love racing with Alpine, and now I know what it feels like to win with the brand, the excitement is all the higher. You can’t believe how happy I am to participate in all eight rounds with this team and particularly Le Mans, where we will do our absolute best and try our damn hardest to go for the win this year. We’re already working hard on our pre-season preparations – Qatar can’t come soon enough!”
“Ferdinand is the perfect embodiment of an endurance driver – the kind of driver you dream of having in your team and as a team-mate,” added Team Principal, Philippe Sinault. “He has genuine race intelligence. He understands situations instinctively, whether at the start of a race or in the middle of the night at Le Mans, and he knows how to adapt his driving accordingly.
“He is also an exceptional team player who always puts the team’s interests first, with a unifying mindset and an incredibly infectious smile. He will be one of our key strengths for this new campaign, and I am both proud and delighted to be able to count upon him for his third season with the team.”
The battle for glory will begin with the ten-hour curtain-raising contest in Qatar on 28 March, followed by races at Imola, Spa-Francorchamps, the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, Interlagos, COTA and Fuji, building up to the traditional eight-hour season finale in Bahrain.
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