McLaren signs Mikkel Jensen as first driver for 2027 WEC return — a calm, confident statement of intent
McLaren’s World Endurance Championship program has its first driver. The Woking outfit has signed Danish racer Mikkel Jensen for its 2027 Hypercar assault, marking the first piece of the puzzle as the team builds toward a full return to Le Mans.
Jensen, 31, arrives with exactly the sort of mileage you’d want in a cornerstone signing: he’s been a Peugeot Hypercar regular since 2022 and an IMSA LMP2 class champion in 2021. In other words, he knows how these races are actually won — in the margins, with relentless pace management and clean execution at 3am.
“I’m extremely proud to be joining the World Championship-winning McLaren family and excited to be a part of its Hypercar project from the early stages,” Jensen said. “Stepping onto the boulevard at the McLaren Technology Centre gives me goosebumps – it not only brings to life how much history McLaren has in Formula 1 but the 1995 Le Mans-winning F1 GTR reminds me that we have an incredible endurance story to continue.”
The move follows McLaren’s confirmation that it will enter the WEC Hypercar class in 2027, taking on the increasingly stacked top tier that includes Ferrari, Aston Martin, Cadillac and Alpine. It also means a long-awaited return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where McLaren last competed in the 1990s and won outright in 1995 with the F1 GTR. With active programs in Formula 1 and IndyCar, this is McLaren putting the Triple Crown target on the calendar every year from 2027.
James Barclay, team principal of McLaren Endurance Racing, called Jensen’s arrival a “milestone” as the new outfit takes shape.
“Announcing Mikkel is another important milestone in the formation of our new Hypercar team,” Barclay said. “He has already proven himself as one of the most competitive and well-rounded sportscar racing drivers in the world and will bring with him a wealth of experience from the Hypercar category.
“We will enter the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans in what will arguably be the most-competitive season of all time. We are delighted to have a driver of Mikkel’s calibre, experience and future potential. Like us, he is a true racer and is therefore a great fit with our philosophy on people and culture, which has been integral to McLaren Racing’s World Championship-winning success in Formula 1. Our World Endurance Championship team is coming together nicely and Mikkel is a fantastic addition.”
If the signing is the serious business, the fanfare arrived a few weeks earlier in the form of a very McLaren-style “Triple Crown” auction. The as-yet-unveiled 2027 Hypercar fetched an eye-watering $7,598,750, headlining a sale that also included a 2026-spec IndyCar at $848,750 and McLaren’s 2026 Formula 1 car at $11,480,000. The combined total: $19,927,500. Not bad for a program that hasn’t turned a racing lap yet.
The hypercar’s buyer will receive the car in the first quarter of 2028, complete with their name engraved on the chassis tag. The package keeps going: a bespoke book chronicling the car’s on-track life, a race suit from one of the 2027 McLaren WEC drivers, hospitality at the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours, Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500, full hospitality across the 2027 WEC season, and a private tour of the McLaren Technology Centre. It’s part theatre, part fundraiser — and entirely on-brand.
Strategically, Jensen is the sort of anchor you sign early, then build around with complementary styles. He’s lived the modern LMH/LMDh world from the cockpit, understands energy management windows, and has debrief experience with a manufacturer effort. If McLaren surrounds him with a blend of outright stint pace and night-race cool, the ingredients will be there. And given the state of the class — deep with factory firepower, sharper than ever on BoP and operational detail — the margin between podiums and P6s will be measured in pitstop choreography and out-laps.
McLaren, for its part, has made clear this isn’t a vanity project. The return to Le Mans is an extension of a racing footprint that already spans multiple series, and the 1995 win isn’t just hanging on the MTC boulevard for nostalgia. It’s ammunition. Jensen’s reaction walking that corridor says as much; the reference points are there every day for anyone wearing papaya.
There’s more news to come. The car remains under wraps and the driver roster is clearly far from complete; expect experience to be the watchword as McLaren fills out its lineup. For now, consider this a purposeful first step. McLaren’s endurance team is forming up, the ambitions are unapologetically big, and the clock to 2027 has started.
