Prototype effort wouldn't come at the expense of other programs, McLaren says

McLaren Racing insists that none of its racing programs are under threat amid a continued interest in a Hypercar and GTP entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Reports earlier this week suggested that either the team’s IndyCar or Formula E program could be impacted by a move into sports cars. However, RACER sources have confirmed this is wide of the mark, and McLaren has since supplied a statement insisting that it is fully committed to the series “in which we currently compete.”

“McLaren Racing is continually exploring opportunities across the motorsport landscape to ensure we are competing in the right series that align with our long-term strategy and keep our racing portfolio under review to maintain the necessary focus and resources to be as successful as possible in every championship we enter,” the statement read. “Like any business we evaluate all potential opportunities and whether they would require any adjustment to our existing obligations, but our commitment remains to delivering performance and success across all race series in which we currently compete.”

McLaren currently competes in Formula 1, IndyCar and Formula E, but the addition of a top-level factory sports car project has been on the cards for a while. An expected Hypercar effort from McLaren could come from McLaren Automotive, a separate business to McLaren Racing, thus meaning the funding for it would unlikely take away from the brand’s existing racing efforts, while an earlier report from RACER pointed to United Autosports and an external OEM being service providers for the sports car plan, again meaning that the impact on resources of McLaren’s existing programs would be minimal.

McLaren's last high-profile sports car effort came in the 1990s, when privately entered but factory-supported F1 GTRs won the 1995 and '96 BPR Global GT series. The marque also won the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, despite entering in the LMGT1 class rather than the premier WSC prototype class. Before that, it was a dominant force in Can-Am in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Earlier this month, McLaren became the sole owner of its IndyCar team, having first gone into partnership with the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team in 2020. Last season was its most successful to date in terms of race wins, with victories at St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio and the Milwaukee Mile.

On the Formula E side, McLaren is currently a customer of Nissan and has enjoyed a strong start to the GEN3 Evo era, with a third and fourth place at the season opener in Sao Paulo, leaving it second overall in the teams' championship, two places ahead of its factory counterparts.