The latest domino in the sportscar driver market has fallen.

With the FIA World Endurance Championship in his native Belgium and on his 35th birthday, Laurens Vanthoor was confirmed by McLaren on Friday as a driver for their Hypercar program in 2027. Vanthoor joins Dane Mikkel Jensen as drivers contracted for the incoming top-flight project. This comes following his announcement earlier this week of staying on with Porsche in IMSA next season as an endurance-only driver.

Winning Le Mans

“I’ve been fortunate to be in the right position to win many major sports car races, but I’ve made no secret that, in recent years, everything I do is geared towards an overall win at Le Mans,” Vanthoor said.

“I’m not even joking when I say it keeps me awake at night. We came so close last year and, when the Porsche Penske Motorsport WEC programme ended, I had to consider which team on the grid could give me the best chance of winning.

“For me, the choice was clearly McLaren Racing. They are at the top of their game in Formula 1 and IndyCar, and I believe the same will be true in WEC. They are as obsessed with winning as I am and, together, we’ll do what it takes. I’d also like to thank everyone at Porsche for an incredible decade of racing, I am fully committed to finishing our journey together with more trophies, and I am grateful for your support in helping me to chase my dream.”

The writing was on the wall

Vanthoor has been a Porsche factory driver since 2017 and with the brand has experienced most of his professional sportscar success. But if you paid attention to Tuesday’s announcement, this may not have been much of a surprise. Laurens’ comments gave more of a farewell and reflective tone. Particularly, he mentioned “that he has a bigger dream he would like to pursue.” Now we know how that pursuit will look.

This is also the latest effect of Porsche not having a WEC prototype program. With so much talent and little space to use them, former Porsche drivers had to look elsewhere. André Lotterer and Mathieu Jaminet landed with Hyundai’s new Genesis hypercar project. Previously, Fred Makowiecki defected to Alpine after the 2024 season.

A résumé that needs no introduction

Vanthoor’s resume in sportscar racing speaks for itself. He has championships in predecessor series to the current SRO GT World Challenge, IMSA’s GT classes and the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Furthermore, he has been a class winner at Le Mans and an overall winner at the Nurburgring 24 Hours. His crowning achievement to date is 2024 WEC Hypercar drivers co-champion with Lotterer and Kevin Estre.