McLaren has pulled the covers off the MCL-HY, the V6 hybrid hypercar it will run in the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2027, ending three decades of speculation over a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The MCL-HY breaks cover with a V6 hybrid powertrain producing around 700 brake horsepower, in line with the regulations that have brought Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac, BMW, Aston Martin, Alpine and Genesis under the same Hypercar banner. Testing is set to begin in May 2026 with a four-driver lineup of Mikkel Jensen, Gregoire Saucy, Richard Verschoor and Ben Hanley, before McLaren confirms its full 2027 race squad later in the year.
McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown framed the project as the natural next step for a brand whose history is intertwined with the world's biggest races.
"McLaren Racing now has three race cars ready to contest the biggest motorsport series in the world; Formula 1, INDYCAR and WEC," Brown said.
More eye-catchingly, Brown spelled out an ambition McLaren has not chased seriously since Le Mans 1995, when the F1 GTR famously won the race outright on its debut.
"This means McLaren, its partners and fans can challenge for the Triple Crown of Monaco GP, INDY500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans together — a unique cross-series story that sets us apart," he said.
The Triple Crown — winning each of motorsport's three blue-riband events — has only been completed by one driver, Graham Hill. McLaren's combination of the F1 squad winning at Monaco, the Arrow McLaren IndyCar programme chasing the Borg-Warner Trophy at the Indianapolis 500, and a new factory hypercar effort at Le Mans is the closest any modern manufacturer has come to having all three pieces on the board at the same time.
The MCL-HY's reveal slots into a Hypercar grid that has rapidly become motorsport's new heavyweight class. Toyota currently leads the 2026 championship after winning at Imola on debut for its updated GR010 Hybrid, and is targeting a third straight win at this weekend's 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Ferrari, the defending world champions, sit second after locking out the Imola front row but losing on race day. Cadillac, BMW and Porsche have all upped their respective programmes for 2026, while Genesis has joined the grid in collaboration with the WRT operation.
McLaren has been candid that the WEC programme will not run alongside an IMSA entry in the GTP class, at least at launch. Team principal Ian James said in earlier interviews that establishing the FIA WEC Hypercar effort was the "first priority," with a possible North American expansion to be considered once the European programme is on its feet.
The MCL-HY's launch livery — papaya orange with a green and black accent recalling the brand's GTR heritage — is unmistakable. McLaren confirmed Schneider Electric and Motul as launch partners, with Goodyear understood to be the tyre supplier and a chassis partnership to be announced.
For a manufacturer that returned to Indianapolis only in 2017 and has built its modern F1 turnaround under Brown and team principal Andrea Stella, the WEC programme is the largest scope expansion since the start of the works F1 era. The first competitive laps of the MCL-HY are due in 2027 at the Qatar 1812 km, the FIA WEC's traditional season opener.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/mclaren-mcl-hy-hypercar-2027-wec-le-mans). Visit for full coverage.*
