McLaren Automotive and its Racing Partner United Autosports embark upon their second season of FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) competition with a refreshed livery and driver line-up for the two 720S GT3 EVO cars as the partnership aims to build on a hugely competitive debut and celebrate the 30th anniversary of McLaren’s iconic victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
McLaren made its WEC debut in 2024 with the advent of the new LM GT3 class. The McLaren GT3 EVO cars demonstrated race-winning pace, claiming the championship’s first LM GT3 front-row lockout in qualifying for Bahrain and a podium finish in Brazil on the way to a top ten position in the championship standings.
The season also included a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in cars numbered 59 and 95, in tribute to the 1995-winning McLaren F1 GTR. This year marks 30 years since McLaren’s historic debut victory in one of endurance racing’s most iconic cars.
Having raced in colours aligned with McLaren Racing’s Formula 1, IndyCar and Formula E liveries, for 2025 McLaren-United Autosports have evolved this look to incorporate more of McLaren’s signature Papaya colour, accentuating the aerodynamic strengths of the McLaren GT3 EVO design. The hood and splitter are now Papaya, as is the rear wing. From the side aspect the Papaya door blade is complemented by the same hue on the lower bodywork rising from the floor, describing the flow of air towards the rear diffuser. Viewed from above, Papaya highlights the aerodynamic teardrop cabin shape that is a feature of McLaren Automotive products.
Briton James Cottingham and Swiss Gregoire Saucy drove the 59 car to ninth place in the overall standings last year. For 2025 they will be joined by French driver Sébastien Baud for his second season of WEC racing, having finished on the podium in Bahrain in his debut year.
In the 95 car, which claimed a podium finish in Brazil, Japan’s Marino Sato will be joined this year by Darren Leung and Sean Gelael. Briton Leung is a WEC race winner, GT World Challenge Sprint Cup Bronze Drivers’ Champion and British GT Champion, while Indonesian Gelael enters his fifth WEC season in which he has won four races – including one alongside Leung last year – and finished runner-up in the championship twice.
The 2025 WEC season begins in Qatar on February 28, the first of eight rounds that includes Imola, Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans in Europe. The championship then heads to Sao Paulo and Texas in the Americas, going onwards to Japan, with the final round in Bahrain in November.
“It is a very special year to be racing with McLaren in the WEC and our 2025 livery celebrates that. This season is about building on strong foundations, winning races and going for the championship title, and we are doing that in a car that is proudly, unmistakeably McLaren.”
Richard Dean, CEO, United Autosports
“Now that we have proven the McLaren GT3 EVO’s speed and endurance at the highest level of competition, we enter the new season confident of competing for the WEC title with our Racing Partner United Autosports. Racing is in the DNA of all our supercars and the WEC, with the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans at its heart, is the ideal competitive environment for them, so we are excited for what we can together deliver on the track this year.”
Michael Leiters, CEO, McLaren Automotive