Mick Schumacher “didn’t believe” Imola WEC podium was possible

Former Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher thought Alpine didn’t have a chance to finish on the podium at the start of Sunday’s World Endurance Championship race at Imola.

Schumacher, Jules Gounon and Frederic Makowiecki guided the #36 Alpine A424 LMDh to a third-place result in the 6 Hours of Imola, finishing just 12 seconds behind the race-winning #51 Ferrari 499P LMH of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi.

This was just the second podium in Hypercar for the A424 programme, after Schumacher and his then-teammate Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere took third in the 6 Hours of Fuji last year.

Strategy played a key role in the #36 Alpine’s ascent up the order from sixth on the grid, with a combination of Michelin’s soft tyres and a shorter fuel stop late in the race helping the French manufacturer gain track position over its rivals.

Schumacher was pleased with the result, having felt a top-three result wasn’t on the cars after Makowiecki made minor contact with the sister #35 entry driven by Jules Gounon on the first lap of the race.

"It was a great race, and I'm really happy with the end result,” said the German.

“The most important thing is to bring back good results and our strategy was key today, with a little help from a few incidents out front.

“We managed to pull off something we didn't believe quite possible at the start and we can be proud of our progress so far.

“Let's keep working hard to build on this momentum at Spa and Le Mans."

The two Alpine prototypes dropped to seventh and eighth at the start of the race, but the #36 A424 gradually began climbing up the order to enter podium contention.

Schumacher came into the pits for the final time with just 35 minutes left on the clock, which meant Alpine could send him back out on track after a relatively short fuel stop.

A full tank of fuel is normally good enough for an hour’s worth of green-flag running.

Alpine team principal Philippe Sinault said “everything fell into place” after it opted for an “aggressive” strategy with the #36 A424.

"We were determined to demonstrate our progress in understanding the car, and this race shows that the slightest mistake can be costly in a pure sprint, especially on a circuit where track position is so important,” said Sinault.

“The first few hours didn't go quite as we wanted. 

“We got back into contention by opting for soft tyres on an increasingly cool track. Towards the end, we opted for different strategies to cover all scenarios. 

“We were aggressive with car #36, favouring two short stints rather than a long one followed by a very short one at the end of the race.

"Everything fell into place, allowing us to push without compromising our tyres. It was a great team effort that rewarded the entire team's work. 

“We must enjoy this result, but we must also learn certain lessons to make even more progress in the long term."