McLaren unveils MCL-HY hypercar on Monaco superyacht ahead of Le Mans return

McLaren unveiled its MCL-HY hypercar in Monte Carlo on Thursday by securing it to the forward deck of a 73-metre superyacht as it glided through Port Hercule ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. The car wore a tri-colour livery — red nose, white midsection, black rear stabiliser fin and wing — and carried the number seven.

The reveal coincides with a landmark moment for the Woking outfit: its 1,000th Formula 1 entry, taking place at the same circuit where the team made its debut at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix, exactly 60 years ago.

The MCL-HY is the car McLaren will campaign in the FIA World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans from next year — the first time the manufacturer has built a car for that race since the F1 GTR’s victory in 1995. Power comes from a twin-turbo V6 race engine paired with a hybrid MGU system producing 707 PS, driving the rear wheels of a car that weighs just 1,030 kg.

Alongside the race car, McLaren is also offering a track-only derivative called the MCL-HY GTR, available exclusively to a select group of VIP clients through its Project: Endurance programme. The GTR strips out the mandatory hybrid system entirely, leaving the twin-turbo engine to produce 730 PS in a configuration engineered purely for circuit use. A two-year ownership package that includes driver training and behind-the-scenes access to McLaren’s WEC campaign comes with the car; pricing has not yet been confirmed.

The programme carries significant symbolic weight for McLaren Racing. The team has already won the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 — two legs of motorsport’s unofficial Triple Crown. A Le Mans victory would complete the set, and the launch of the WEC effort next season represents the most credible attempt yet to achieve it.