McLaren confirms 2027 Le Mans return. F1 stars Norris and Piastri eager to race if Formula 1 calendar permits crossover.
McLaren today confirmed its return to the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans starting in 2027, announcing a partnership with United Autosports to run the brand’s future Hypercar prototypes, while James Barclay, currently head of Jaguar’s Formula E team, will take the lead.
Zak Brown, McLaren CEO, revealed that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the brand’s Formula 1 drivers, would be interested in racing in the endurance classic. Provided, of course, that Formula 1 pays attention to other schedules and stops placing races on the same weekends as some of the sport’s most iconic events.
“I don’t think they can be part of the Hypercar program. Will they do the 24 Hours of Le Mans? I’ve spoken to both of them about it. They would like to be at Le Mans in one of our cars,” said Brown, who acknowledged the complexities of the racing calendars, with next year’s 24 Hours clashing with the Spanish Grand Prix.
“You know these calendars are hard to manage, with the expanded schedules of all racing series and the ripple effects that come with it. If you move that date, it can work, but it creates a domino effect. I wouldn’t want to be the person in charge of calendars.”
“I think Formula 1 will do everything it can to avoid a conflict with Le Mans. Obviously, there’s a clash with the Indy [500] next year, but from what I understand, that will only happen once every five years, so I believe they’ll try to avoid a conflict.”
To balance its WEC commitment, McLaren will leave Formula E, maintaining three programs across F1 and IndyCar: “There are several reasons. On one hand, we are obviously leaving Formula E because we don’t want to be involved in more than three categories at once.”
“The other thing is how we approach racing. The IndyCar team doesn’t touch the Formula 1 team, and vice versa. The same applies to WEC. Everyone is very dedicated, and you know a race team based in Indianapolis doesn’t share any resources.”
“So the pressure on the system is greater in terms of my time, my commercial team, my finance team, and my HR team, but we just need to scale up accordingly.”
“I’m not concerned about that at all, but it’s also a matter of timing. You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. So we’re confident this is not too large a commitment for us.”
McLaren is capitalizing on its momentum and the excitement surrounding the WEC: “Our automotive business was acquired by CYVN Holdings LLC from Abu Dhabi, and we’ve shown strong interest in motorsport.”
“They’re now in a great position and looking to the future. The strength of our Formula 1 and IndyCar teams is certainly a factor, along with the success of this new platform, so when you put it all together, the timing is right.”
