Charles Milesi, driving for Alpine, stated he was “gutted” to miss out on Lone Star Le Mans glory, revealing that a substantial clump of tire marbles had become lodged beneath the car and cost him when contending with the victorious Ferrari.
The No. 35 Alpine A424, shared by Milesi with Ferdinand Habsburg and Antonio Felix da Costa, led the FIA World Endurance Championship showdown at the Circuit of The Americas for much of the race but ultimately finished on the third step of the podium.
Milesi had been running in second place behind the No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid — which retired in the closing moments due to hydraulic problems — when the race resumed after a safety-car period with 45 minutes remaining.
However, he ceded the position to Nicklas Nielsen and the No. 50 Ferrari 499P on Turn 8 in the late stages, while dealing with both the discarded tire debris and LMGT3 traffic.
A five-second penalty for an unsafe release from its pit box then dropped the Alpine trio behind the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R in the final standings, but a podium finish remained a first for the French manufacturer this season.
“A solid race overall, for sure, but it’s a bit painful not to secure a double podium or a win this weekend,” Milesi assessed. “I believe we earned it—the pace was strong.”
“It’s a positive result for the squad with a P3 and a P5, even though we could’ve squeezed out a touch more. For the team, a podium is good for momentum heading into the tail end of the season.”
But Milesi also suggested that more could have been done during the caution periods to ensure the track was free of the heavy marbles that formed in the hot conditions.
When asked about losing out to the winning Ferrari, Milesi explained: “Something got underneath the car, like a big lump of marbles. I began to understeer, lost the rear, nearly spun, and then I slid again at Turn 7.”
“Then I was blocked by a GT3 and Nielsen took the outside at Turn 8, and I didn’t want to risk it,” he added.
“We were contesting P2 and P3, so I decided to take it like this.”
“We had ample time to clean the track. If we’d had three or four laps under the safety car to sweep the surface a bit, the end of the race might have been less chaotic for everyone.”
Bamber: Cadillac “Overachieved” With Second Place
The outcome of the Alpine penalty shifted the No. 38 Cadillac crew of Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Sebastien Bourdais into second place, marking their best result of the season so far.
Bamber had led for portions of the middle stint but could not keep the No. 7 Toyota behind when the Ferrari-powered car ran with a tire deficit, and the New Zealander felt the JOTA squad had overperformed by finishing as runners-up.
“When I consider the pace across the field, I’d say we maybe overachieved with a second today, but we’re extremely happy with that,” said Bamber.
Asked whether a victory might have been within reach, he replied: “There was a moment when I was at the front and we had a solid gap to the others — I’d say we were effectively about 20 seconds ahead.”
“If the race had stayed green, we probably could’ve taken the win. But that’s the charm of WEC racing at the moment — a lot of strategy and variables, so finishing second after defying the odds with our plan leaves us very satisfied.”
