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 Chaꦯmpionship race at Imola.

Schumacher, Jules Gounon and Frederic Makowiecki guided the #36 Alpine A424 LMDh to a third-place result in the168澳洲5最新开奖结果: 6 Hours of Imola, finishing just 12 seconds behind the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:race-winning #51 Ferrari 499P LMH of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Gui♐di and Antonio Giovina🔜zzi.

This was just the second podium in Hypercar for the A424 programme, after Schumacher and his then-teammate Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere took thi🎐rd 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 it🎃s rivals.

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

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

“The most important thing is to bring back good resul൲ts 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 progres𒁏s so far.

“Let's keep working hard to build on t⛦his 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 e♐nter podium contention.

Schumacher came into the p♑its 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 demon⛦strate 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 differ🌄ent strategies to cover all scenarios. 

“We were aggressive with car #36, favourinꦑg 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 teaꦺm 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."