Mikkel Jensen believes he is in ‘a golden time’ in his career as an endurance driver right now, and is confident his early recruitment by McLaren for the iconic British brand’s new Hypercar programme will reap rich rewards in the long run.
Last April, McLaren confirmed its intention to enter the FIA World Endurance Championship’s headlining Hypercar category in 2027 – bringing to an end an absence of almost three decades from the long-distance discipline’s top-tier.
Two months ago, former Peugeot racer Jensen was then announced as McLaren United AS’ first driver. He admits that when the opportunity presented itself, it was too good to ignore.
“When I saw McLaren announcing the project, my eyes inevitably went a bit in that direction,” he acknowledged. “I feel I’m in a golden time in my career. I’ve just turned 31 – that’s a good age for an endurance driver – but I wasn’t really getting the success I felt I deserved and I obviously haven’t won an FIA WEC race yet. I think it was the time for a change and a new challenge, and this feels like the right place for me to be.
“It all happened very naturally. I went home after the last race of 2025 in Bahrain, re-packed my bags and came to the McLaren Technology Centre. I saw the ‘boulevard’, all the cars and felt the atmosphere, spirit and history of the brand, which was very emotional. I’d only seen it in videos before, but actually being there was very special and a great start to this journey.
“There’s so much hunger here – everybody wants to win and I want to win, so it’s just a great fit and a great match and I’m super-excited for the adventure ahead!”
From three-and-a-half seasons of Hypercar competition to-date, Jensen has reached the FIA WEC rostrum on three occasions – although not yet, as he alludes, its top step. That is a statistic he is eager to rectify with McLaren, and he hopes the opportunity to put his stamp on the project at such a formative stage will assist him in that quest.
“Obviously it would have been nice to do another year of racing [in Hypercar], but it was also a great advantage for both myself and McLaren to start working together already,” reflected the Dane, who will nevertheless remain race-sharp throughout 2026 via an LMP2 class campaign in IMSA with McLaren’s official partner United Autosports, as well as an outing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Endurance racing is a team sport – more so than any other motorsport discipline. Everybody needs to be on the same page, so getting to know people and working together so early on in the project means we can fine-tune everything together. It’s super-interesting and motivating as a driver to put your touch on things in the development phase, rather than just arriving to see the final product – that’s definitely an advantage for me.
“It’s a very experienced group of people and they did a lot of work before I joined – they already had a bigger plan than I expected – but especially on the software side, there are so many opportunities to explore that you can always find more.”
With an extensive background in single-seaters, GT racing and prototypes – including title triumphs in both the European Le Mans Series and IMSA – Jensen believes his breadth of knowledge and versatility will be a boon to the ongoing evolution of McLaren’s new Hypercar, as the marque aims to hit the ground running when it enters the competitive fray next year.
“I think I’m at my best age as an endurance driver,” the Aarhus native asserted. “I have some good experience now – McLaren is getting a driver who has been everywhere! I’ve always had to adapt super-quickly to what I’ve been given in my career, because I’ve driven all kinds of cars.
“That means I have a broad view on everything, and a very open mind on the different cars and manufacturers I’ve worked with, whereas other drivers maybe come with more of a tunnel mindset because they’ve only been with one manufacturer or one type of car for a long time. I think that’s a good value I can bring.
“We have a lot of work to do. The car hasn’t run yet, and we need to get it working perfectly before the first race. We need to be spot-on and on top of every aspect of the development to not lose any time. It’s a long journey and 2027 might feel like it’s far away, but it will come around very quickly and we need to execute...”
