McLaren Hoping for “Evolution” Approach to 2030 Rules

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

McLaren is hoping for an ‘evolutionary’ approach of the FIA, ACO and IMSA’s top-class rules for 2030, which could enable the British manufacturer to offer customer cars in the future according to McLaren Endurance Racing executive director James Barclay.

Barclay has also been appointed team principal of the McLaren United AS team, which will campaign a pair of factory Hypercar entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship beginning next year, in what’s understood to be an initial three-year commitment through the end of the current Hypercar/IMSA GTP rules cycle.

When asked by Sportscar365 if customer cars could be in the prospect for McLaren, Barclay pinned it down to the platform’s long-term future.

“Our focus is on our program, first and foremost,” he said. “I think depending on which way the regulations go for 2030, is it revolution or evolution, and I think if it’s the latter, that would be a real positive.

“Right now, it’s a bit like the IMSA conversation, we’re focused on getting the factory program set up, operating and [being] successful.

“I’m not ruling anything out but it would be a real positive in the future regulations if we can have some longevity because that makes what you have to gear up to support any customer activity more viable as well.”

Barclay confirmed that McLaren is involved in the 2030 rules discussion with fellow top-class manufacturers.

“As a committed [manufacturer] coming into the category and in working with our spine partner in Dallara and our supply chain, it’s really fortunate that we’ve been included right from the start,” he said.

“We’ll play a really active role in that. It will take a lot of input and experience from those have been competing. But I think we can also bring a fresh perspective to that as well.”

While an announcement on the scope of the rules for 2030 could come as early as this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, Barclay said he’s in favor of an evolution of the current LMDh platform, rather than something built from scratch.

“There’s a real core of what’s working very well,” he said. “There’s a reason why we see ten Hypercar teams present in 2027, maybe more. Looking at the constituent parts, there’s a lot that’s really good there.

“I think evolution feels better than revolution… but maybe improving the elements we know it’s quite challenging when you have quite different technical rulesets for LMH and LMDh. I think if we can create one, it would be a fantastic step forward.

“There’s an incredible amount of work done and there’s a great amount of success. It’s a golden era of sports car racing. Let’s cherish that and fine-tune for the future.

“It seems like the right approach.”

James: WEC, IMSA at “Crossroads” on Future Regs Path

Heart of Racing team principal Ian James, whose team currently fields Aston Martin Valkyries in both the WEC and WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, feels the next few months will serve as an important time for the future of top-class sports car racing.

“It’s an OEM discussion,” he told Sportscar365. “Obviously I’m privied to some of the information. But I think it’s still very gray which direction it’s going to go in.

“There’s a bit of a crossroads for the championships at that point what they do.

“I’m definitely a very interested observer of what direction they take. It think it’s a big year for them, this year, in terms of bringing all the cars back together and seeing them run closely and competitively.

“Hopefully it will be a good Le Mans for all the manufacturers in terms of the competition.

“I think there’s a lot of unanswered questions that they’re working really hard at and in good faith at. We’ll see.

“I’m interested to see what they do. I think there’s definitely OEMs that want different things. Getting everybody aligned is always a tough task.”

James’ comments come in the way of IMSA President John Doonan’s sentiments on the proposed common set of regs, which he fell short of outright confirming that would definitely be the direction IMSA is headed for 2030.

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