Benjamin Michael Hanley (born 22 January 1985) is a British racing driver competing in the European Le Mans Series for United Autosports in LMP2.
A Formula Renault 3.5 Series runner-up and Renault F1 junior in his youth, Hanley entered endurance racing in 2016 after a long hiatus. He has spent 11 seasons in the European Le Mans Series, primarily with DragonSpeed and United Autosports in LMP2. Hanley also drove part-time in the IndyCar Series, and raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship for DragonSpeed and Ginetta in LMP1.
Career Early career Hanley began his motorsport career in karting, where he experienced significant success on the international stage. His transition to single-seaters saw him compete in various junior formulae, including the Formula Renault UK and Eurocup championships. His early speed marked him as a promising talent and caught the attention of the Renault Driver Development Programme, which backed him from 2006 to 2008.
Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 Series Under Renault's guidance, Hanley stepped up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, where he quickly established himself as a frontrunner. In the 2007 season, he secured the runner-up position in the overall championship standings, finishing just behind Álvaro Parente.
For the 2008 season, Hanley graduated to the GP2 Series, the primary feeder category to Formula One, driving for the Barwa International Campos Team. However, after the first three rounds of the season (culminating at the Monaco round), he parted ways with the team by mutual consent. Hanley was immediately thrown a lifeline by the Durango team to race at Magny-Cours. Despite showcasing his pace, his GP2 campaign was ultimately hampered by early-season reliability issues and a lack of sustained funding.
In 2010, while competing in Superleague Formula, Hanley served as the official Dallara GP2/11 test driver for Dallara and Pirelli.
Return to karting Following his departure from the GP2 Series, Hanley took an extended hiatus from professional car racing. He returned to his roots in karting, where he competed at the highest levels of CIK-FIA events for several years. This five-year break from car racing ultimately worked to his advantage later in his career, permitting him to re-enter professional sportscars under an adjusted FIA driver grading.
Endurance racing
In late 2015, Hanley was one of six young drivers invited by Audi Sport to test its Audi RS5 DTM challenger at Circuito de Jerez.
Hanley's career was revitalized when he joined DragonSpeed, led by Elton Julian, to compete in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). He was instrumental in DragonSpeed's progression up the endurance ladder, taking overall victories in ELMS, including a notable LMP2 win at Spa in 2016 alongside Henrik Hedman and Nicolas Lapierre.
Hanley was also scheduled to make his Formula E debut at the upcoming 2016 Berlin ePrix due to Oliver Turvey's Super GT commitments. However, the Super GT event was postponed because of the Kumamoto earthquakes, and Turvey was reinstated into his NEXTEV TCR seat.
Hanley made his official WEC debut at Spa in 2017 when he was drafted in by the TDS Racing LMP2 squad to replace the injured Matthieu Vaxivière. With DragonSpeed, he later competed in the premier LMP1 class as a privateer entrant and achieved massive success in the LMP2 ranks, notably winning the class at the prestigious 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
In recent years, Hanley has continued to be a highly sought-after prototype driver. For the 2023 WEC season, he was signed by United Autosports to substitute for Filipe Albuquerque in select races. United Autosports subsequently confirmed him for a full LMP2 championship tilt in the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship alongside Ben Keating.
In 2026, Hanley was confirmed as a development driver for the McLaren MCL-HY, the new top-class prototype developed by McLaren and United for the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship.
IndyCar Series Hanley made his NTT IndyCar Series debut alongside DragonSpeed in 2019. Despite the team being a part-time newcomer with limited testing, Hanley showcased strong performances. He competed in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where he advanced to the second round of qualifying, started 12th, and finished 18th. He also raced at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
The highlight of his 2019 IndyCar campaign was successfully qualifying for the 103rd Indianapolis 500. Having never raced on an oval before, Hanley secured the 27th starting position, pushing his Chevrolet-powered Dallara to a 227.482 mph average. He was classified 32nd in the race following a mechanical failure. Hanley returned for the 2020 Indianapolis 500, again partnering with DragonSpeed.
Racing record
Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2005 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Cram Competition 17 6 2 9 4 264 3rd Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 NC† Formula Renault 3.5 Series 2 0 0 0 0 0 39th Formula Renault UK Team AKA 2 0 0 0 0 21 28th 2006 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Cram Competition 17 1 0 3 2 55 8th 2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Prema Powerteam 17 2 0 3 6 102 2nd 2008 GP2 Asia Series Barwa International Campos Team 6 0 0 0 1 6 15th GP2 Series 6 0 0 0 0 1 24th Durango 2 0 0 0 0 0 2009 Euroseries 3000 Fisichella Motor Sport 6 1 0 1 2 23 6th 2010 Superleague Formula Olympiacos CFP 10 1 1 3 3 653 4th 2016 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 DragonSpeed 6 1 0 0 4 76 4th 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship – LMP2 TDS Racing 1 0 0 0 0 53 17th G-Drive Racing 1 0 0 0 0 CEFC Manor TRS Racing 5 0 0 0 1 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 DragonSpeed 6 0 2 2 1 40 11th IMSA SportsCar Championship - Prototype 1 0 0 0 0 21 39th 24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 DragonSpeed - 10 Star 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 12th 2018 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 DragonSpeed 6 0 1 1 2 50.5 7th 24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship DragonSpeed 6 0 0 0 0 8.5 28th 2019 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 DragonSpeed 5 1 1 0 1 47 8th IndyCar Series 3 0 0 0 0 31 30th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 1 0 1 1 1 30 13th 24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship Team LNT 4 0 0 0 1 27.5 15th FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 DragonSpeed 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2020 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 DragonSpeed with Racing Engineering 1 0 0 0 0 5.5 23rd DragonSpeed 3 0 0 0 0 IndyCar Series 1 0 0 0 0 14 33rd IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 DragonSpeed USA 2 2 0 0 2 35 13th 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 DragonSpeed USA 6 0 0 0 0 42.5 11th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 3 0 0 0 0 1 33rd IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC‡ 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 10th 2022 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 Nielsen Racing 4 2 2 0 4 1041st European Le Mans Series - LMP2 6 0 0 0 0 15 16th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP210000N/A16th 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 CrowdStrike Racing by APR 7 2 2 1 5 1958 2nd Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 Nielsen Racing 4 0 0 0 1 39 6th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Pro-Am 6 0 0 0 3 75 4th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 United Autosports 3 0 0 0 1 38 13th 2024 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 United Autosports 6 0 1 0 1 29 10th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 United Autosports USA 7 1 2 1 1 1962 5th24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 Pro-Am10000N/A6th 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 United Autosports USA 7 0 1 0 0 1899 6th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 United Autosports 6 0 0 0 0 15 14th24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 Pro-Am 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th2025–26Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2United Autosports 6 0 0 0 0 28 10th 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 United Autosports USA 2 0 0 0 0 521 27thEuropean Le Mans Series - LMP2United Autosports 5 1 0 1 4 85* 1st*24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 Pro-Am 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th † As Hanley was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. ‡ Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. * Season still in progress.
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Italia results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points 2005 Cram CompetitionVLL1VLL2IMO1IMO2SPA1SPA2MNZ11MNZ12MNZ13MUG1MUG2MIS1MIS2MIS3VARMNZ21MNZ223rd208
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2005 Team AKADON1DON2THR1THR2BRH1BRH2OUL1OUL2CRO1CRO2SNE1SNE2KNO1KNO2DON1DON2SIL1SIL2BRH1BRH2 28th 21
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points 2005 Cram Competition ZOL1 ZOL2 VAL1 VAL2 LMS1 LMS2 BIL1 BIL2 OSC1 OSC2 DON1 DON2 EST1 EST2 MNZ1 MNZ2 NC† 0
† As Hanley was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points 2005 Cram Competition ZOL1 ZOL2 MON1 VAL1 VAL2 LMS1 LMS2 BIL1 BIL2 OSC1 OSC2 DON1 DON2 EST1 EST2 MNZ1 MNZ2 39th 0 2006 Cram Competition ZOL1 ZOL2 MON1 IST1 IST2 MIS1 MIS2 SPA1 SPA2 NÜR1 NÜR2 DON1 DON2 LMS1 LMS2 CAT1 CAT2 8th 55 2007 Prema Powerteam MNZ1 MNZ2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MON1 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 DON1 DON2 MAG1 MAG2 EST1 EST2 CAT1 CAT2 2nd 102
Complete GP2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts 2008 Barwa International Campos Team CATFEA CATSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MONFEA MONSPR 24th 1 Durango MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR VALFEA VALSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR
Complete GP2 Asia Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 2008 Barwa International Campos Team DUB1FEA DUB1SPR SENFEA SENSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR DUB2FEA DUB2SPR 15th 6
Complete Euroseries 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 2009 FMS InternationalALG1ALG2MAG1MAG2 6th 22 Team Costa Rica DON1 DON2 ZOL1 ZOL2VAL1VAL2 VLL1 VLL2MNZ1MNZ2
Complete Superleague Formula results
(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Pts 2010Olympiacos CFPSIL1SIL2ASS1ASS2MAG1MAG2JAR1JAR2NÜR1NÜR2ZOL1ZOL2BRH1BRH2ADR1ADR2POR1POR2ORD1ORD2BEI1BEI2NAV1NAV2 4th 653
Super Final results (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2010Olympiacos CFPSILASSMAGJARNÜRZOLBRHADRPORORDBEINAV
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)