Alpine He states his ambitions for his final season in the WEC: "We will be there until the end"

The question was inevitable. To know that the adventure Alpine en WEC The announcement that the team will cease operations at the end of this 2026 season could have dampened spirits for the blue team on the eve of Imola. But it hasn't. The message is unanimous and remarkably consistent: no one is looking to the end, everyone is looking ahead. Their approach is that of competitors first and foremost, who refuse to let an institutional announcement interfere with their daily work, especially since for each of them, the next chapter will unfold under a different banner. Frédéric Makowiecki sums up the collective mindset bluntly: “No matter what happens in the future, we are here to give our best. We can count on a whole team supporting us. I think we need to be motivated and motivate them too, to show them that we will be there until the end. We will give everything. We will get results, that’s for sure.”

Antonio Felix da Costa is going in the same direction with the logic of a racing driver. "Yes, it ends at the end of the year. But that's seven or eight months away. Let's focus on today, on this month. Let's focus on this season." Jules Gounon, for his part, outlines the mental choice that the team collectively made. A simple course of action, but one that requires a particular mindset. "There are two ways to look at it: either we focus on the fact that it's going to stop, or we simply focus on his job. We continue to work hard with our team to make the best of the situation. Right now, I think that's what we're all focused on. All of us."

What is also striking is that several drivers place this season in the context of their own professional trajectory, regardless of the future of...AlpineFor them, the end of the program doesn't change the fundamental equation: performing remains the best argument for the rest of their careers. Victor Martins, who arrives this year for his first season in Hypercar since the carHe is already very familiar with the constant uncertainty about the future, and explains it clearly: “We need to stay motivated because I think it’s the best job in the world, being a racing driver – having the chance to race in a Hypercar. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me and for my career. I’ve always raced single-seaters, never knowing what I was going to do the following year. So it doesn’t change anything for me. In terms of pressure, motivation. I’m just excited.”

A team that chose attack over management

The most illuminating testimony regarding the internal dynamics comes from Ferdinand Habsburg. The Austrian admits to having arrived at the off-season with some apprehension following the announcement of the program's end, but his doubts were quickly dispelled: “I arrived at the workshop. I went to the track. I participated in the first day of testing. And it was the complete opposite of what I expected. Whatever they did, they really went all out. I think we received all the updates we could have hoped for. So they didn't hold back. We went all out.” He insists that this energy does not come from a superficial discourse, but from the reality of the work accomplished.

Habsburg goes further in its analysis, having extended its contract just a few weeks before the official announcement. "Somehow, the guys in the middle managed to create a top-notch atmosphere that made it a positive experience. I was more motivated this year, simply because of the energy the team gave me. I don't know how they did it." A team that knows it is playing its last season could have eased off the pressure, delayed developments, managed rather than attacked. Alpine has clearly made the opposite choice, by bringing about all the planned changes and maintaining an intact dynamic.

Charles Milesi completes this picture with a clearly stated personal requirement: "We need to give 100%. Because as drivers, we are performing well. We just need to continue working as we have in recent years." Total commitment is not presented as an additional effort due to the circumstances, but as the natural continuation of what the team has always done. This is perhaps the most encouraging sign for this latest campaign.

Le Mans as the horizon, Imola as the starting point

From a sporting perspective, the objective that gives meaning to this entire latest campaign is clearly identified by the whole group: the 24 Hours of Le MansMilesi puts it with a precision that sums up the collective ambitions: “We want to show that we have the pace. At Le Mans — which is in a way the most important race of the season — we want to put on a good show. And that’s why we came here to Imola with the same motivation: we have the opportunity to get the car up to the level it deserves to be at Le Mans.”

Da Costa complements this vision with the simplest and strongest argument: "The blue cars are still in the running. There's no reason not to perform well. And not to give our best for the brand." For AlpineImola is just a starting point. The real rendezvous with history will take place in June, at Le Mans, during a race that the team approaches with the firm intention of proving, one last time, that this program deserved to exist.

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