Matthieu Vaxivière

Matthieu Vaxivière (born 3 December 1994) is a French racing driver, best known for his endurance racing success with Alpine.

A former Lotus F1 junior, Vaxivière won the French F4 Championship in 2011 and was Formula Renault 3.5 Series runner-up in 2015. He entered endurance racing in 2017, driving for TDS Racing alongside François Perrodo in LMP2. Vaxivière finished second on his DPi debut for Cadillac at the 2019 12 Hours of Sebring, and also won twice in GT World Challenge Europe: for R-Motorsport in 2018 and for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in 2020.

In 2021, Vaxivière signed with Alpine as a factory driver for the FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside Nicolas Lapierre and André Negrão. They were Hypercar runners-up in 2022, as Alpine took the fight to Toyota with victories at Sebring and Monza. Additionally, Vaxivière reunited with Perrodo at AF Corse, guiding him to a pair of LMP2 Pro-Am titles in the European Le Mans Series in 2023 and 2024.

Career Karting Vaxivière started his racing career in 2005 in the Karting Championship of France.

Car racing debut Having made his car racing debut in the MitJet Series in 2010, Vaxivière progressed to the French F4 Championship the subsequent year. A successful campaign followed, as he took the title by winning three races, which included a double victory at Pau.

Formula Renault 2.0 Vaxivière scored a podium in the second Pau Grand Prix support race in 2012. Vaxiviere entered his debut season of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2012 with Tech 1 Racing, which he finished in 29th position with a single point. The Frenchman experienced a more fruitful year in 2013, ending up tenth overall with a pair of victories at Aragón proving to be the highlight of the season.

Formula Renault 3.5 Vaxivière took his first Formula Renault 3.5 podium at the Nürburgring. After his two seasons in the Eurocup, Vaxivière graduated to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the 2014 season, driving for Lotus alongside Marlon Stöckinger. He finished eighth overall despite missing two rounds due to an injury.

Vaxivière returned to Lotus for the 2015 season. Three wins and a heap of podiums made him vice-champion.

For the first season of the newly rebranded Formula V8 3.5 Series, Vaxivière would partner Matevos Isaakyan at SMP Racing. This season, he amassed seven podiums, two of which were wins, and took home fourth place in the standings.

Lotus F1 After completing several post-season tests with both Pons Racing and Lotus in preparation for 2014, Vaxivière was announced by Lotus to drive with them in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series alongside Filipino-Swiss rookie Marlon Stöckinger.

Sportscar debut

Having competed in various endurance events such as the GT3 Le Mans Cup throughout his time in junior formulae, Vaxivière made his full-time transition into sportscar racing near the end of 2016, when he partnered Michele Rugolo and Stéphane Lémeret in the GT category of the Asian Le Mans Series from round two onwards. He helped DH Racing to finish second in the championship, having taken victory at the Fuji Speedway.

Vaxivière's main campaign in 2017 would lie in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which he contested with TDS Racing. Having taken a podium on debut at Silverstone, he finished 16th in the drivers' standings.

2018 would start out positively for Vaxivière, who finished second in the first two races of the European Le Mans Series with TDS before embarking on a season in the WEC with the French team. A podium during the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans would prove to be the highlight of his season, which Vaxivière finished eighth overall.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 saw Vaxivière compete in a myriad of championships, including the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup or the Mitjet International series, where he took four wins from as many appearances. That year also yielded another podium at Le Mans, Vaxivière driving for Panis Racing alongside Nico Jamin and Julien Canal.

Alpine works driver

2021: Hypercar debut For the 2021 season, Vaxivière teamed up with Nicolas Lapierre and André Negrão to drive an Alpine A480 in the Hypercar category of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The campaign began on a promising note, as the team finished second at Spa-Francorchamps before Vaxivière followed that up by taking a pole position at the Algarve Round. The outfit stabilized their pace after another second place in Monza, with them taking third for the remaining rounds, Vaxivière and his teammates being unable to match the pace of the Toyota Gazoo Racing squad.

2022: WEC title challenge Vaxivière competing at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Nevertheless, Vaxivière, Lapierre and Negrão returned to Alpine in 2022. At the season opener in Sebring, he put on a particularly impressive showing, setting the fastest lap and helping his team to their first victory in the Hypercar category. Vaxivière and his partners took second at Spa before finishing a disappointing fourth in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as issues with the car's clutch control and ignition coil systems respectively put the team out of contention for the podium. They bounced back emphatically in Monza, where, having made contact in a hard-fought battle with the Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi, Vaxivière scored another win. However, this would end up being the team's final finish ahead of their rivals Toyota, with a power reduction for the final two races thanks to the BoP mechanism leading to Alpine finishing second in the overall standings.

2023: LMP2 return & Pro-Am title Vaxivière and Alpine stepped down to the LMP2 category for the 2023 season, where the French driver partnered Charles Milesi and Julien Canal. The team would finish the season seventh overall with a podium at Monza.

In addition, Vaxivière paired up with François Perrodo and Ben Barnicoat to race in the Pro-Am Cup of the European Le Mans Series that same year. After starting the campaign with two class podiums, Vaxivière helped AF Corse towards its first Pro-Am win of the season at Aragón, where he passed title rival Louis Delétraz for the lead with half an hour to go. The same pair once again battled hard for position at Spa-Francorchamps, where Vaxivière once again came out on top, thus securing fourth in class. Third at the first Portugal race was followed by a victory at the season-ending 4 Hours of Portimão, where late defensive driving from Barnicoat against Malthe Jakobsen proved decisive in securing the Pro-Am title for Vaxivière and Perrodo.

2024: Alpine Hypercar & back-to-back ELMS titles

With the LMP2 category being dropped from the WEC for the 2024 season, Vaxivière would continue driving for Alpine in their new Hypercar, the A424, alongside Nicholas Lapierre and Mick Schumacher. The season, featuring four new manufacturers in the Hypercar class (BMW, Lamborghini, Isotta Fraschini, and Alpine themselves), would begin well for the Alpine team in the first round in Qatar, placing best of the four Hypercar debutants, with Vaxivière's car finishing 11th out of 19 in class. At the following round in Imola, Vaxivière was involved in a first-lap collision, which necessitated two laps of car repairs. Following an anonymous Spa event, the No. 36 Alpine retired from the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a driveshaft problem. Finally, Vaxivière and his teammates scored the entry's first point at São Paulo and, despite struggling during the opening stint owing to the choice of hard rear tyres, followed that up with ninth place at Austin. A further breakthrough came in Japan, where overtakes by Schumacher secured the team's maiden Hypercar podium with third place. The season ended with ninth place at Bahrain.

Vaxivière continued racing in LMP2 with AF Corse in 2024. Having contested the 2023–24 Asian Le Mans Series during the winter and gotten a best result of second twice, Vaxivière paired up with Perrodo and two-time substitute of 2023, Alessio Rovera, to defend the Pro-Am title in the ELMS. A strong pit strategy allowed the trio to start the season with a win at Barcelona, though the next race saw Vaxivière drop to fourth during the final stint due to high tyre wear. Second at Imola preceded a commanding class victory at Spa, which earned the No. 83 crew a 20-point lead going into the Mugello event. Their lead would be diminished however, as Rovera collided with a GT entry and got the car stranded in the gravel; they ended up seventh in the race. With a four-way title fight coming to a head in Portimão, it was drama on the final lap that decided the championship in AF Corse's favour: the leading Algarve Pro Racing entry ran out of fuel on the final lap and was passed by Bent Viscaal's Proton Competition car, thereby letting Vaxivière claim the title with fourth place at the flag.

2025

During the winter, Vaxivière once again raced in the Asian Le Mans Series at AF Corse. With three podiums, including a win at the second Abu Dhabi race where Vaxivière overtook Nicky Catsburg in the closing laps, he, Rovera, and Perrodo finished third in the standings. In the meantime, the Frenchman was demoted to reserve driver duties at Alpine for the 2025 WEC Season. This meant that he would concentrate on racing in the ELMS, entering with an unchanged lineup and in view of a third successive Pro-Am crown.

Barcelona provided Vaxivière with a standout performance in the season's first race: after taking the lead of the Pro-Am category early on in his first stint, Vaxivière made a triple overtake on Reshad de Gerus, Pietro Fittipaldi, and Théo Pourchaire with 50 minutes left. Soon after, he would pass Charles Milesi for third overall before jumping ahead of Pipo Derani on a FCY restart. He caught leader Mathys Jaubert with 25 minutes to go, though a pit stop for fresher tyres and a subsequent safety car left Vaxivière in fourth with two remaining racing laps. In those, he overtook Fittipaldi, Milesi, and Jaubert to take victory, the second overall win for a Pro-Am car in the history of the series.

Racing record

Racing career summary † As Vaxivière was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. Season still in progress.

Complete French F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

† As Vaxivière was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points

Complete Formula V8 3.5 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Points 2014 Lotus MNZ1 MNZ2 ALC1 ALC2 MON1 SPA1 SPA2 MSC1 MSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 JER1 JER2 8th 83 2015 Lotus ALC1 ALC2 MON1 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 RBR1 RBR2 SIL1 SIL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 BUG1 BUG2 JER1 JER2 2nd 234 2016 SMP Racing ALC1 ALC2 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 LEC1 LEC2 SIL1 SIL2 RBR1 RBR2 MNZ1 MNZ2 JER1 JER2 CAT1 CAT2 6th 175

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points 2014 Prospeed Competition LMGTE Am Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL SPA LMS 9th 58 Porsche 911 RSR COA FUJ SHA BHR SÃO 2017 TDS Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SIL SPA LMS NÜR MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR 16th 53 2018–19 TDS Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SPA LMS SIL FUJ SHA SEB SPA LMS 8th 66 2021 Alpine Elf Matmut Hypercar Alpine A480 Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 SPA ALG MNZ LMS BHR BHR 3rd 128 2022 Alpine Elf Team Hypercar Alpine A480 Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 SEB SPA LMS MNZ FUJ BHR 2nd 144 2023 Alpine Elf Team LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SEB ALG SPA LMS MNZ FUJ BHR 7th 83 2024 Alpine Endurance Team Hypercar Alpine A424 Alpine 3.4 L Turbo V6 QAT IMO SPA LMS SÃO COA FUJ BHR 22nd 21

Complete European Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2014 Pro GT by Alméras GTC Porsche 997 GT3-R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL IMO RBR LEC EST 22nd 8 2018 TDS Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC MNZ RBR 10th 38 Racing Engineering SIL SPA ALG 2019 RLR MSport LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC MNZ CAT SIL SPA ALG 36th 0 2023 AF Corse LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC ARA SPA ALG ALG 1st 110 2024 AF Corse LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA MUG ALG 1st 98 2025 AF Corse LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA SIL ALG 4th 74 2026 AF Corse LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA SIL ALG 2nd* 26*

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) + Year Team Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pos. Points 2016–17 DH Racing GT Ferrari 488 GT3 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L V8 ZHU FUJ BUR SEP 4th 50 2023–24 AF Corse LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SEP1 SEP2 DUB1 ABU1 ABU2 6th 52 2024–25 AF Corse LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SEP1 SEP2 DUB1 DUB2 ABU1 ABU2 3rd 86 2025–26 ARC Bratislava LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SEP1 SEP2 DUB1 DUB2 ABU1 ABU2 17th 4

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2017 TDS Racing François Perrodo Emmanuel Collard Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 213 DNF DNF 2018 TDS Racing François Perrodo Loïc Duval Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 366 DSQ DSQ 2019 TDS Racing François Perrodo Loïc Duval Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 366 8th 3rd 2020 Panis Racing Nico Jamin Julien Canal Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 368 7th 3rd 2021 Alpine Elf Matmut André Negrão Nicolas Lapierre Alpine A480-Gibson Hypercar 367 3rd 3rd 2022 Alpine Elf Team André Negrão Nicolas Lapierre Alpine A480-Gibson Hypercar 362 23rd 5th 2023 Alpine Elf Team Julien Canal Charles Milesi Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 327 12th 4th 2024 Alpine Endurance Team Nicolas Lapierre Mick Schumacher Alpine A424 Hypercar 88 DNF DNF 2025 AF Corse António Félix da Costa François Perrodo Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 364 26th 9th LMP2 Pro-Am 4th 2026 AF Corse Ben Barnicoat François Perrodo Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 357 23rd 9th LMP2 Pro-Am 2nd

Complete GP3 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points 2017 DAMS CATFEA CATSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR JERFEA JERSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 22nd 0

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points 2019 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY SEB LBH MDO DET WGL MOS ELK LGA PET 22nd 64 2021 Tower Motorsport by Starworks LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB WGL WGL ELK LGA PET NC† 0† 2023 AF Corse LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB LGA WGL ELK IMS PET 24th 306 2024 Richard Mille AF Corse LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 56th 211 2025 AF Corse LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 38th 537 2026 AF Corse USA LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 13th* 199* † Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. Season still in progress.