Ford says it may wait until the end of the year before finalising the remainder of the driver roster for its 2027 Hypercar programme in the World Endurance Championship.
The American manufacturer has so far signed just three names for its return to the top echelon of sportscar racing, with Logan Sargeant, Sebastian Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller leading development of its as-yet-unnamed LMDh challenger. However, Ford will ultimately require as many as six drivers for the longer WEC events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, in addition to any reserve drivers.
Discussions are underway with prospective candidates, and while a few announcements remain possible in the summer, Ford indicated that the full line-up may not be settled until much later in the year.
“We hope to have some more announcements in the next few months, but the final [line-up] might not be in place till towards the end of this year,” Ford LMDh chief Dan Sayers told reporters including Motorsport.com.
“We're very happy with how things are progressing. As it stands, the three we've got at the moment, we've announced them already. With Logan, Seb and Mike, we've got a great mix of experience, youth and speed, so if we carry on that way, we'll have a really good driver line-up, but it will be towards the end of the year for all six.”
Ford’s current driver line-up is led by 2010 Le Mans winner Rockenfeller, who also has experience of LMDh machinery thanks to his time with Porsche customers JDC-Miller and Proton Competition in IMSA’s GTP division.
However, multiple GTD Pro race winner Priaulx comes from a background in GT cars, while former F1 driver Sargeant is still new to sportscar racing.
Sayers admitted Ford is in discussions with drivers with current LMDh and LMH experience, opening the possibility of recruiting from rival manufacturers.
“We're talking to a lot of drivers at the moment for the remaining seats, some of whom do have LMDh and hypercar experience,” he said.
“I think we're going to try and continue to have a balance of experience and youth. So, I think you will see hopefully we'll make future announcements so that's continued.
“But again, as much as experience helps with engineers, it helps to have drivers and experience as well, so we will be talking to them.”
