22 Albuquerque 2MDH0779
United Autosports have impressively fought off interest from other teams to secure the services of Filipe Albuquerque in 2023 for a fourth consecutive season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
It will mark the Portuguese driver’s seventh consecutive season with the Anglo-American team and is a major coup for United who are working hard to secure a future programme in the very top tier of sportscar racing. Josh Pierson, the youngest driver to race in the WEC and at Le Mans, is also part of United’s 2023 WEC driver line-up to date.
Filipe debuted with United in the 2017 European Le Mans Series (ELMS), winning his first race with the team at Silverstone. The following year, he paired with Phil Hanson in pursuit of the 2018 ELMS, bringing home three trophies (including two wins) from six rounds. In 2019, Albuquerque and his team-mates contended both ELMS and WEC, kickstarting a streak of 13 consecutive podiums in 14 months.
These achievements came to a head at WEC Bahrain 2020, when Albuquerque and United made endurance history. Together with team-mates Hanson and Paul Di Resta, the #22 crew won the FIA WEC (LMP2), ELMS and 24 Hours of Le Mans (LMP2) in the same year – the first ever team to do so.
Filipe Albuquerque stats with United Autosports:
- Six years
- Two championships
- 41 races
- 6 Le Mans 24 Hours
- 14 race wins
- 13 pole positions
- 21 podiums
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Filipe Albuquerque:
“I am very happy to re-sign with United for another WEC campaign and the aim is unsurprisingly to repeat our championship victory of 2019-2020. I never imagined that I’d be driving for the same team for so long but it’s an absolute pleasure working with Richard, Zak, the engineers and the entire team. Bring on ’23 – I can’t wait!”
Team owners:
Richard Dean: “Filipe continues to prove he is one of the very best sportscar drivers in the world. His record with United is impressive, as is his contribution to all aspects of our team. We continue to push for improvements, and I am sure this commitment to work together again in 2023 will bring more success for Filipe and United Autosports.
Zak Brown: “Filipe signing this early for 2023 shows how highly he rates United Autosports, both currently and for the future. He unquestionably had other options on the table and was being chased by other teams. But he sees how ambitious we are as a team and has committed to us. From our side, he’s a hugely valuable asset especially with a new era of sportscar racing just around the corner which Richard is working hard towards fulfilling."