After racking up more than 3700 kilometres during the Prologue last weekend, Alpine Endurance Team returned to the Lusail International Circuit on Wednesday for the opening race of the season.
After initial preparations in sunny conditions, the team resumed its in-depth work with 208 laps completed in free practice under overcast skies and windy with lower temperatures.
Charles Milesi (#35) and Mick Schumacher (#36) drove in qualifying on Thursday.
Faced with the challenge of warming up their medium-compound Michelin tyres on a cooler track at sunset, Charles Milesi went through to the Hyperpole to take ninth place on the grid while his teammate settled for a spot on row seven.
On Friday, the Alpine A424s started the race with Frédéric Makowiecki (#36) and Ferdinand Habsburg (#35), with hard tyres on the left and medium tyres on the right.
This combination remained the same throughout the race.
Ferdinand Habsburg made a strong start, gaining five positions to complete the first lap in fourth place.
The Austrian was even up to third at the end of the first hour, but he had to come into the pits after 1h16 with a puncture.
Charles Milesi (#35) and Jules Gounon (#36) then took over, confirming the solid start of their teammates, respectively running 6th and 9th as the race neared the four-hour mark.
But after 3 hours and 36 minutes, Charles Milesi got caught up in heavy traffic, made contact with a GT car and spun.
The penalty was threefold because he suffered a puncture and minor damage and was penalised five seconds during his pit stop, putting the #35 one lap down.
Shortly after half-distance, Paul-Loup Chatin and Mick Schumacher took over in the Alpine A424s #35 and #36 respectively.
The two delivered some great battles.
