Ford used a major press conference in Detroit on Thursday night to outline the full scope of its 2026 motorsport ambitions.

Formula 1 inevitably dominated the headlines – but Ford's World Endurance Championship Hypercar project also delivered some substance.

“One year ago, we made a promise to return to the topflight of endurance racing,” Ford Racing Hypercar programme manager Dan Sayers said.

“Today, we are exactly 12 months away from being on the grid. In the world of global motorsport, that is a heart-stopping timeframe. To build a Hypercar programme from a blank sheet of paper to a Le Mans start line in just two years is, by any objective measure, almost impossible.”

Ford confirmed key technical choices and, more importantly, revealed the first three drivers entrusted with leading its endurance racing return in 2027.

Logan Sargeant's second chance

Rumoured since early November on The Race, Logan Sargeant’s arrival at Ford is now official. Eighteen months after his Formula 1 career ended with Williams, the 25-year-old American is back under a factory banner.

“Logan Sargeant, who comes to us fresh from the F1 circuit, bringing a level of technical sophistication and high-downforce experience that is vital for a programme of this scale,” Sayers explained.

“Having an American back in a Ford at Le Mans feels right. It’s a nod to giants like Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt, who showed the world in 1967 what happens when American grit meets global ambition.”

After turning down an offer from Hyundai's new Genesis Hypercar project last February, Sargeant largely disappeared from the radar before returning to competition late last season in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, racing in LMP2.

Though Sargeant's F1 stint is not remembered fondly, Ford is not wrong to target him. Sargeant has looked far more natural whenever he has stepped into endurance machinery. His IMSA LMP2 outings late last season were impressive, as were 2021 appearances in the European Le Mans Series (LMP2) and the Le Mans Cup (GT3).

Ford plans to ease him in via a full LMGT3 campaign in the WEC in 2026, while his immediate schedule includes the Daytona 24 Hours with Era Motorsport in LMP2.

For Ford, Sargeant represents upside. For Sargeant, this is arguably the cleanest career reset he could have hoped for.

Mike Rockenfeller, the old fox

The other two names on Ford’s list are more open to debate: 42-year-old German Mike Rockenfeller and 24-year-old Briton Sebastian Priaulx.

“Seb and Rocky are already part of the Ford family, having proven the Mustang GT3’s mettle with two wins in IMSA last year,” explained Sayers. “Seb is a pure, natural talent; Rocky is the veteran who has seen it all and won it all.”

Much like Andre Lotterer at Genesis, Rockenfeller will bring a wealth of experience to a manufacturer that still has everything to learn about top-level endurance racing – even if he is no longer among the outright pacesetters in the category. By the way, ‘Rocky’ already knows what LMDh racing is about, having contested seven IMSA races in a Porsche 963 across 2023 and 2024.

For those who need reminding, Rockenfeller has 11 Le Mans 24 Hours starts to his name and two class victories, including outright honours in 2010 with the Audi R15 Plus. His most recent top-class Le Mans appearance came in 2012, when he finished third overall in the Audi R18 TDI.

A Daytona 24 Hours winner in 2010, Rockenfeller was also crowned DTM champion in 2013, five years after securing the European Le Mans Series title.

Sebastian Priaulx: Talent, name, pressure

Sebastian Priaulx is the most intriguing – and riskiest – of Ford’s initial trio.

At 24, he has built a decent GT resume: Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion, IMSA GTD Pro race winner, and a key part of Ford’s Mustang GT3 programme alongside Rockenfeller. But this is still a significant leap.

His prototype experience is minimal. One LMP3 race in 2022 is all he has. That deficit will be addressed this year through an ELMS LMP2 campaign with Proton Competition, sharing the car with Rockenfeller, a pairing that underlines how closely Ford sees their development paths intertwined.

There is no denying Priaulx’s raw ability. There is also no escaping his surname. With a father who won three World Touring Car Championship titles and raced as a Ford factory driver between 2016 and 2019 in the WEC, scrutiny will be relentless. It will be up to him to show quickly that his seat is earned on merit alone.

What comes next...

These three are not the finished line-up. Ford will need at least three more drivers to complete its WEC roster, and paddock consensus suggests Porsche-contracted drivers are firmly on the radar.

Reigning IMSA champion Matt Campbell is widely viewed as a leading candidate, especially given his reduced IMSA commitments this season with Porsche Penske Motorsport.

First on-track running is currently scheduled for August, broadly in line with the development timeline followed by Genesis’ ORECA-built LMDh.

A V8, a statement, and no compromise

Beyond the driver announcements, Ford confirmed what we already suspected: its Hypercar will be powered by a naturally aspirated V8.

“When you hear a Ford coming down the Mulsanne Straight at three in the morning, you shouldn’t have to look at the badge to know who it is,” said Sayers.

"That is why we chose the Coyote. We are powering our Hypercar with a naturally aspirated 5.4-litre V8. When you have an engine this iconic in your arsenal - a powerplant that already defines our Dark Horse R, GT4, and GT3 programmes - you don’t look for alternatives. You lean into your DNA.”

Unlike these road-derived versions, this V8 will be developed entirely in-house.

“For the first time in our history, this competition engine is being developed entirely in-house, with our team in Dearborn working hand-in-glove with Red Bull Ford Powertrains to marry high-voltage technology to raw, Detroit-born power,” Sayers confirmed.

That choice promises a far more evocative soundtrack than the twin-turbo V6 used in the Ford GT that raced in the WEC and IMSA between 2016 and 2019, a bridge between the legends of 1966 and 2027.