The team known as NEOM McLaren Formula E Team looks likely to cease operations later this month after new investment opportunities were unable to be sourced in time for the licence to stay on the grid.
The Race understands that NMFE staff were briefed late last week on the latest developments around the team's status and that a buyer had not been forthcoming.
The grid slot that the NMFE races under is set to return to promoter Formula E Operations in late July and the London EPrix in two and a half weeks' time will be its last in the all-electric world championship.
“McLaren Racing announced its planned exit from the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in April following a strategic review of our racing portfolio and a shift in focus towards our 2027 entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship," a statement from McLaren read.
"It’s been fantastic to follow the team’s on-track battles over the past three seasons and we thank everyone for their hard work and incredible dedication.”
News of McLaren's demise will mean that the Formula E grid will be down to 20 cars for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
Discussions over practicalities such as payment to Formula E Operations for McLaren breaking its contract to race in the series one year early and similar deals with suppliers such as powertrain provider Nissan, battery supplier Fortescue Zero, and spare parts holder Spark are believed to be ongoing.
Its star driver has been snapped up
One of McLaren’s key assets, star rookie driver Taylor Barnard, has been snapped up by the Penske Formula E operation and could race for it as soon as next season alongside Maximilian Guenther.
The Race has learned that Barnard has signed a deal with Penske covering multiple years, although it remains unclear if he can race with the DS Penske team next season. That is likely to only be put into action if Jean-Eric Vergne can move across to the MSG operation that is expected to be rebranded from Maserati to Citroen for the final Gen3 season.
"We've been keeping everybody very much in the loop, that includes the drivers. I think for Taylor, he'll obviously make his own decisions about what is best for his future," McLaren team principal Ian James told The Race.
"The last thing I ever wanted to do was to give anybody, whether that's team members, drivers, partners, any kind of sort of false hope or false promises.
"Taylor and Sam [Bird] have been armed with all of the information that they've needed to take their own decisions about what's best for their future."
Barnard was contracted under an option that would've been triggered had a replacement owner for McLaren been found.
But with entries needing to be registered and confirmed by mid-September, time ran out for the Bicester-based operation, which was already losing some key technical and sporting staff.
This uncertainty meant Barnard and his team were open to several offers for his future in Formula E, with the most attractive believed to have come from Jay Penske. He acted on the advice of deputy team principal and technical leader Phil Charles, who runs the DS Penske team on a day-to-day basis.
Like many in the paddock, Penske and Charles have been impressed with Barnard this season. The 21-year-old is fourth in the championship in his first full season and has ticked off impressive rookie milestones, including four podium positions and his first pole in Jeddah in February (which he repeated in Monaco).
Penske has a track record of investing in youth in Formula E, having given his current driver Guenther his Formula E debut as a 21-year-old with the Dragon team in 2018 when he was fresh from Formula 2.
Now that McLaren will not race on under a new guise into 2026, Barnard could slot in alongside Guenther - who has a long-term Penske deal - immediately, depending on how the Vergne side of the situation plays out.
Penske, which owns the DS Penske entry completely, will move away from DS for the Gen4 period and either partner with a different manufacturer as a customer operation or become a manufacturer in its own right. Either option will mean running its cars completely from Penske's relatively new base located in Witney in the UK.
Should Vergne move to an MSG-run operation, it would mean partnering with Stellantis' new signing Nick Cassidy next season.
An internal announcement that Cassidy had been signed from Jaguar was made last month.
