Following a challenging first half of the season, Ferdinand Habsburg is bullish about Alpine Endurance Team’s prospects in this weekend’s Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas (5-7 September), effusing about the ‘amazing potential’ of the French manufacturer’s A424 Hypercar.
While the sister #36 entry has achieved two podiums from the opening five rounds of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign – at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps – in the #35 car, Habsburg and team-mates Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin have had to content themselves with a pair of eighth-place finishes for their efforts.
A troubled run last time out at Interlagos saw the trio take the chequered flag at the tail-end of the order, but Habsburg is adamant that the results to-date do not accurately reflect the crew’s pace and performance – and he is hopeful of finally turning their season around in Texas.
“I wish it would look better so far,” reflected the 28-year-old Austrian, a former FIA WEC LMP2 class champion. “Last year, me, Paul-Loup and Charles were just getting to know everything with the new car and we were enjoying learning the whole time.
“This year, we’ve felt like we’ve had our feet on the ground and our understanding of the car has been better, but every weekend something has kind of tripped us up, something that we weren’t expecting. The big disappointment overall was Le Mans, just the overall pace and not finding the right balance in the car.
“It’s up to us to knuckle down, because we feel the A424 has such amazing potential. The reliability is so strong now, our balance keeps on improving and the way we are dealing with the tyres is getting better. It’s like the latest iPhone update is really working for me in the car!
“I feel that it’s time to take advantage of the car that we have and let the progression move towards the #35 finally getting a win. That would be really beautiful.”
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