Who could be the next manufacturer to join the Hypercar class at Le Mans?

With Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac, Peugeot, Alpine, Lamborgini and BMW all entering the Hypercar class in the last two years, Endurance racing, and particularly racing at Le Mans has never been stronger.

That was highlighted by the competitive Le Mans race last weekend, where Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac all had a chance of winning with a couple of hours to go.

Gone are the days where one brand has little-to-no competition, or a manufacturer locks out the podium because of multiple DNF’s.

Lap times throughout the 2024 Le Mans were incredibly close, which resulted in drivers and teams pushing to the maximum of their capabilities for the entire 24 hours.

The increased participation and competitiveness of the field has generated more interest, which in-turn has been an incentive for more big name drivers to enter the class.

16 ex-Formula drivers competed at Le Mans this year, many of which were in the Hypercar category.

But who could be next to try their hands at Le Mans?

What we know for sure is that Aston Martin will be part of the Hypercar class in 2025.

Aston Martin confirmed their entry prior to the Le Mans race getting underway last weekend, and they will do so with two factory cars.

McLaren

McLaren appears to be the next leading contender to venture into the Hypercar class at Le Mans.

A key takeaway from the final few hours of the race on Sunday was when McLaren CEO Zak Brown was interviewed by Eurosport, along with one of his colleagues.

Both men indicated that the Hypercar class could be on the cards for McLaren, which would make sense given other brands in F1 like Ferrari, Alpine and now Aston Martin have taken the leap into the highest category of endurance racing.

Audi

Set to join F1 in 2026, Audi has a rich history of winning Le Mans and could be tempted to make such a return in the coming years.

In some way there is nothing left for Audi to achieve at Le Mans after winning on many occasions.

However, and without dismissing their achievements because they are not to be taken lightly, doing so against this kind of field is something they rarely did during all their years of success, therefore they could be tempted to make a return.

Ford

Perhaps taking inspiration from the recent Ford vs Ferrari special on Netflix, Ford could be a contender to join the Hypercar class in years to come.

In 2023 Ford admitted building a prototype for Le Mans was not in their interests, but things change, something that could not be more true about racing.

Ford has the brand power and reputation to garner significant interest if they wanted to try their hands at building a new Hypercar, and without stating the obvious, the 24 hours of Le Mans would benefit hugely from a brand such as Ford making that type of investment.