Brown: McLaren Waiting on Driver Market to Set Full Lineup

Photo: Philippe Nanchino/MPS Agency

McLaren United AS has yet to sign its full roster of drivers for the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship season according to McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who said they’re intentionally waiting before finalizing its entire lineup due to the fluid driver market in its pursuit of having “the best drivers in the business.”

The British manufacturer, which join the Hypercar grid with two Dallara-chassied LMDh cars next year, has so far only publicly announced Mikkel Jensen for its factory squad.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Brown revealed that “a few” more drivers are now under contract but stressed there’s still more to come.

“We’re not done,” he said. “We definitely have not signed all of our drivers.

“That’s intentional because we want to see what happens in the market, we want to do some testing, we want to see how our young drivers do.”

Several new names have surfaced in recent weeks as being potential candidates, including current Cadillac pilot Alex Lynn, as well as Porsche-contracted star Laurens Vanthoor.

Brown admitted that Lynn, who has raced for United Autosports previously, is a “good” driver.

“I like Alex,” he said. “I’m good friends with his father. We go historic racing. I bought my Ford Capri from him! He (Shaun) didn’t give me enough of a deal, so that might come back to haunt him!

“I rate Alex. I think Alex is good. I’ve known him back from when he was a Williams test driver.”

When asked about Vanthoor, who is understood to be contracted to Porsche though at least the end of next year, Brown said he’d be open to having a driver on-loan from another manufacturer as long as there’s no conflict.

Sportscar365 understands that Porsche is set to loan out Kevin Estre to Toyota Racing for the WEC next year, with a similar arrangement believed to be an option at McLaren.

“I think we’d be open to anything,” said Brown. “It would be awkward if it’s a Ferrari driver!

“We’re open minded, so as long as it makes sense for the other brand and our brand, I think we’d be open minded.

“Again, we want to have no compromises. So any driver in our car, if they have another program, ours needs to come first.

“If you get into a situation where there’s a conflict like us being second priority isn’t us putting our best foot forward.

“I think some of the guys who do IMSA-only also want to WEC and guys who do WEC want to do IMSA. These sports car drivers, understandably, want to race as much as they can.”

Brown said several McLaren Driver Development Program members and/or affiliated drivers could also land race seats, with both Richard Verschoor and Jake Hughes currently racing LMP2 machinery in the European Le Mans Series, in what’s understood to have been a directive by the British manufacturer to gain sports car racing and ACO-rules racing experience.

“What we will do is have the best driver lineup humanly possible,” said Brown. “I think in any form of motorsport, No. 1 on the list, you’ve got to have a great car and great team but you can’t do it without great drivers.

“We are going to go for the best drivers in the business.”

What also hasn’t been decided is if the team will use three-driver lineups for the full WEC season, or opt for driver pairings for the shorter six-hour rounds.

“We’re not yet set in our mind on what’s the most optimal,” said Brown. “Because you talk to the drivers, they all think three is too many at the six-hour [races].

“Obviously Qatar being a ten-hour, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you have to, and the 8 Hours of Bahrain, but then there’s also prep for Le Mans.

“Do you go with three full-time in one car and try the two plus a third in the other? We’re not totally clear on our mind. We want to get testing.

“We know we need a minimum of four between the two [cars] and a minimum of six at a handful of races, but what combination we want to go with? We’re kinda not clear yet.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John