The collapse of the LMP1 manufacturer field after 2017 prompted the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the FIA to develop a lower-cost top class. Audi exited at the end of 2016, Porsche at the end of 2017, both departures linked to the Volkswagen Group emissions scandal. The surviving privateer and factory infrastructure could not sustain the hybrid expenditure required by LMP1 Hybrid regulations, with full-season budgets running to roughly 100 million euros for the leading programmes.
Discussions began in earnest from 2017, targeting a budget in the region of 25 million euros per season — approximately 75 percent lower than the existing LMP1 Hybrid cost base. The concept was publicly confirmed at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the FIA announced that the new regulations would be modelled on road-going hypercar architecture rather than pure prototype engineering.
The Le Mans Hypercar regulations, published in full in December 2018, mandated production-based powertrains and required manufacturers to produce a minimum of 25 road-legal versions of their race car by the end of their first competitive season. This clause was intended to reinforce the connection between racing and road-car development, while also excluding purpose-built prototype constructors such as Oreca, Onroak Automotive, and Dallara from building Hypercar bodywork from scratch.
Maximum combined power output was set at 500 kW (670 hp), with a peak of 585 kW at 95 percent of engine speed under the regulated power curve. The minimum weight was fixed at 1,030 kg. For cars using an energy recovery system, the motor generator unit-kinetic output may not exceed 200 kW, and hybrid deployment to the front wheels is permitted only above a minimum speed threshold defined in the Balance of Performance table. Four-stroke petrol engines are the only permitted combustion type; diesel is banned.
Movable aerodynamic devices are prohibited. The frontal surface area may not fall below 1.6 square metres, and the bodywork must not expose mechanical components to view unless explicitly sanctioned by the regulations. The cars are heavier and slower than their LMP1 predecessors; the original target lap time at Le Mans was set at 3:30, compared to sub-3:20 for the fastest LMP1 machinery.
In 2021, alongside the debut of the new class, the ACO and IMSA announced the convergence of LMH with their jointly developed LMDh category. LMDh cars use a standardised chassis from one of four approved constructors and a defined hybrid system, offering manufacturers a lower entry cost. Both LMH and LMDh cars compete in the WEC Hypercar class, balanced against each other through the BoP, and LMH cars are also eligible in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class.
The convergence restored a level of technical and commercial alignment between European and North American top-level sportscar racing not seen for several decades, enabling a shared grid at Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona.
Toyota was the sole manufacturer entrant at the class's debut in 2021, campaigning its GR010 Hybrid alongside Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus. The field expanded substantially from 2022 onward as Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac, Peugeot, Lamborghini, Alpine, and BMW joined through various LMH or LMDh pathways. By the mid-2020s, the Hypercar grid at Le Mans had grown to more than 20 entries, achieving the manufacturer diversity the ACO had targeted when abandoning LMP1 regulations.
The Hypercar class is represented in multiple titles. Assetto Corsa Competizione includes Hypercar content in its FIA WEC expansion, covering circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. Le Mans Ultimate, released in 2024, centres specifically on the WEC calendar and features LMH cars including the Toyota GR010, Ferrari 499P, and Porsche 963 alongside LMDh machinery, making Hypercar competition a core focus of the title.
The Hypercar class reversed the decline of manufacturer involvement that had emptied the top WEC category by 2018. By designing regulations that tied racing hardware to road car programmes, reduced the power and speed ceiling, and opened a second technical pathway via LMDh, the ACO and FIA created conditions for sustained multi-manufacturer competition. The class is widely regarded as having restored endurance racing's commercial and sporting viability at the highest level.