Everything we know about McLaren's 2027 WEC entry

McLaren has teased its arrival in the World Endurance Championship in 2027 with an enigmatic “we’re back” message.

That’s not a surprise, and we’re expecting a lot more detail to be revealed over the coming months in the build-up to the Le Mans 24 Hours.

But to avoid keeping you in suspense until June, here’s everything we know about McLaren’s plan.

Why announce it like this?

Although it is a major announcement, it doesn't actually tell us much - CEO Zak Brown’s quote is quite literally “we’re back”. But it is enough to confirm the information that The Race revealed at the end of January.

For more information, we will now have to wait until June 13, the day before the start of the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours. According to The Race’s information, that’s when more details will be given during a press conference.

That's good timing, because until July 7, the Le Mans 24 Hours Museum is hosting a temporary exhibition entitled McLaren, a name for eternity. On display is the F1 GTR No. 59 of Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing, winner of the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours, 30 years ago, with JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya. A significant event, especially as it was the first of McLaren's four participations in the legendary French race.

Brown has been talking about taking McLaren into endurance racing since 2017. And he has been one of the most fervent supporters of common technical regulations between the WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. The gestation period has been long, but the outcome is near. And McLaren winning its first F1 constructors’ championship since 1998 certainly has something to do with it.

What's the programme?

McLaren’s statement only mentions the WEC. That’s to be expected given as stipulated in the Le Mans 24 Hours supplementary regulations, to qualify for a place on the starting grid of the legendary race, a manufacturer has no choice but to enter a minimum of two cars for the entire WEC season.

In the United States, McLaren is already well represented in IndyCar. But we bet that if partners are found to finance the programme, then it would be a shame not to have an IMSA commitment. Even more so when you see how beneficial a double programme WEC/IMSA has been for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Incidentally, McLaren has already excelled in sportscars in America, notably with five Can-Am titles between 1967 and 1971 thanks to the M6A and the various iterations of the M8. At the wheel were drivers as legendary as Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and Peter Revson.

What about the car?

In line with what we revealed in January, McLaren will opt for the LMDh technical regulations. Its car will therefore be based on a few standardised elements such as an X-trac gearbox, a WAE battery and an MGU and Bosch electronic system.

As for the chassis, McLaren has to choose between one of the four approved chassis manufacturers: Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic or ORECA. And according to our information, it has set its sights on the Dallara chassis, the same one used by Cadillac and BMW.

Under the bodywork, we should find a twin-turbo V6. In this case, derived from or inspired by the one that powers the Artura, the third hybrid car designed and manufactured by McLaren after the P1 and Speedtail, and the first with a V6 engine.

Which racing team?

McLaren will not be running this programme with a completely new team assembled internally. The decision has been made to rely on a racing team that has a lot of experience in endurance racing. And this is probably the best solution for effective and rapid adaptation.

No surprises are expected here, as this role will be entrusted to United Autosports, a team co-owned by Richard Dean and Brown. What could be more logical, then? It would also have been naive to believe that the entry of the McLaren 720 S in LMGT3 since last year did not conceal something more ambitious.

But it would be unfair to stop at this link between the two entities. Because of the major teams that had previously been in LMP2, United Autosports was the last one that had not yet had its chance in the top class. This wrong is therefore about to be righted.

To understand this, you only need to look at the statistics. Since entering LMP2 in 2017, United Autosports has won the Le Mans 24 Hours twice (2020 and 2024), but also clinched a European Le Mans Series title (2020) and a WEC title (2020), not to mention its Asian Le Mans Series titles, the Daytona 24 Hours win last January and its many LMP3 crowns. Without a doubt, it's a case of things coming full circle.

Which drivers will be at the wheel?

With McLaren's arrival scheduled for 2027, it's still too early to say. But we know that there has been hard work behind the scenes for several weeks now.

There are currently eight Hypercar manufacturers in the WEC this year: Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota. None of them seem to be about to leave the adventure. Even Peugeot, which is in the greatest difficulty, is working on a new car, as we revealed to you recently.

There should therefore be nine manufacturers in 2026 with Genesis and possibly 11 in 2027 with Ford and McLaren. The drivers' market is therefore more open than ever, and McLaren must therefore act early to secure the services of certain leading endurance drivers before they sign with the competition.

Moreover, it is rumoured that the project is already well advanced and that McLaren's Hypercar could carry out its shakedown in early 2026, which would allow it to benefit from almost a year of development before starting in competition, like the Porsche 963. This is an important detail because, as a reminder, as long as the car is not homologated, a manufacturer is not limited in terms of testing.

Naturally, all the top drivers linked to United Autosports are candidates, such as Oliver Jarvis, Paul di Resta, Ben Hanley, Renger van der Zande and Grégoire Saucy. The first four are no longer young, but their experience could be invaluable in carrying out the development. But that will not be enough, and it will be necessary to look elsewhere, particularly among the competition.

What consequences for McLaren's other programmes?

When the first rumours about McLaren's arrival in Hypercar were heard, it was said that this would be accompanied by the end of another of the programmes run by the brand, which is currently present in F1, Formula E and IndyCar.

Obviously, there is no cause for concern about F1, but what about the other two series?

It would be very surprising if McLaren were to end its involvement in IndyCar since it’s only relatively recently that McLaren has become the sole owner of its team, which until then had been jointly owned with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

As for Formula E, discussions have indeed taken place with the Hyundai Group to run a joint programme, as The Race revealed at the end of 2024. However, Hyundai has not yet pressed the button on this deal and the future of McLaren’s FE title sponsorship deal with Neom is uncertain.

Is this enough to jeopardise the McLaren Formula E programme? It is still too early to say - especially since this championship is subject to a cost-cap rule, so the investment it requires is much less than what is needed to play in the Hypercar category.