Alpine team principal Philippe Sinault says he is “confident” that Mick Schumacher will elect to remain with the French marque in the FIA World Endurance Championship for a second season as the deadline to finalize its 2025 lineups looms.
Sinault made the remarks ahead of this weekend’s 8 Hours of Bahrain season-closer, which follows Nicolas Lapierre’s decision to retire in favor of a sporting director role.
One of the delays in Alpine being able to settle its 2025 drivers relates to Schumacher, who has been vocal about his desire to return to Formula 1 after losing his seat with the Haas team at the end of the 2022 season.
Schumacher was considered to be a candidate to return to F1 with Alpine but ultimately lost out on the team’s vacant slot for the 2025 season to Jack Doohan.
“We are crossing our fingers and we are confident he will continue with us,” Sinault told Sportscar365 when asked for an update on Schumacher’s status at Alpine. “But you know the situation, the full picture, so we have to wait a little bit more.
“The time to decide is coming soon. We have a test with Michelin [in Bahrain, after the rookie test] and then we test again in Portimao and then Le Castellet.
“We need to summarize everything we learned this year to be able to consider improvements to the car for 2025. So we need to finalize the drivers as soon as possible.”
With Lapierre having hung up his helmet following September’s Fuji race, Alpine reserve Jules Gounon is making his fourth outing of the season in the No. 35 Alpine alongside Paul-Loup Chatin, back after a one-race absence, and Ferdinand Habsburg.
Charles Milesi meanwhile moves over to replace Lapierre in the No. 36 car, partnering Schumacher and Matthieu Vaxiviere for the season closer.
However, Sinault didn’t rule out further changes being made to the lineup for next year beyond Gounon’s anticipated promotion to a race drive.
“To reach the level required to fight the guys in front of us, we have to consider some other options,” said Sinault. “We are watching each purple sector! It’s part of the job.”
Frederic Makowiecki has been touted as a possible candidate to join Alpine following news of his impending departure from Porsche, announced last week.
Sinault meanwhile denied that Victor Martins, who is set to join Alpine in Sunday’s rookie test, is being considered for a race drive in 2025.
“We have not had a lot of contact with him, but he is part of the Alpine family, so it makes sense and it’s logical to test him,” said Sinault. “We will also get another perspective about the level of the car, which will be very interesting.”
Martins, who has spent the year racing for ART Grand Prix in Formula 2, currently has no confirmed program for 2025.
