McLaren to make Formula E, WEC entry decisions in early 2022

Zak Brown says McLaren will make a decision on whether it will enter either Formula E or the World Endurance Championship during the early months of 2022.

Connor McDonagh

03 Jan 2022

Zak Brown (USA) McLaren Executive Director.
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McLaren has been weighing up the idea of Formula E after announcing in January of last year it had signed an option for a future entry in the series for the 2022-23 campaign.

It is also considering competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans by entering WEC.

McLaren is currently in Formula 1, IndyCar and most recently, entered Extreme E.

Speaking after the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Brown admitted that entering other motorsport categories need to ‘make sense commercially’ for McLaren.

“What’s been driving our timeline is, if we were to enter, the technical preparation that would need to be done to be prepared.

“We’ve done enough work on both series to be comfortable with the timeline moving a bit. And the reason the timeline is moving a bit is just because we’re not in a position to make a decision yet.

“Obviously commercially it needs to make sense for us. We need to be comfortable where we are at with our IndyCar, Formula 1 and Extreme E teams. We’re ramping up for a third car in IndyCar for the IndyCar Series in 2023.

“So I think it’s going to be early Q1 before we make any final decisions.”

On Formula E, Brown said last year: “We’ve been closely observing Formula E for some time and monitoring the series’ progress and future direction.

"The opportunity to take an option on an entry, together with the completion of the McLaren Applied supplier contract with the FIA at the end of Gen 2, gives us the necessary time to decide if Formula E is right for McLaren as a future competition platform.”