The McLaren Driver Development Programme, formerly known as the McLaren Young Driver Programme, is a driver development programme operated by McLaren. It is intended to offer year-by-year guidance, assistance and endorsement to help promising young racers climb the motorsport ladder.
 | |
| Founded | 1998 (as McLaren-Mercedes Young Driver Support Programme) |
|---|---|
| Base | Woking, Surrey, England |
| Current drivers | WEC Ryō HirakawaIndyCar  Pato O'Ward[1]Formula 2  Gabriel BortoletoFormula 3  Alex Dunne Martinius StenshorneFRECA  Ugo Ugochukwu[1] Brando BadoerF1 Academy  Bianca Bustamante Ella Lloyd (2025)Karting  Dries Van Langendonck |
The most notable participant in the programme is Lewis Hamilton, who joined the programme while karting and eventually graduated to the McLaren F1 Team. He has won the Formula One Drivers' Championship seven times between 2008 and 2020, where the 2008 championship was won with McLaren. Hamilton is currently the only graduate from the programme who has won a World Drivers' Championship. The programme was also formerly known as the McLaren-Honda Young Driver Programme and the McLaren-Mercedes Young Driver Support Programme, reflecting engine deals with Honda and Mercedes, respectively.
As of 2024, nine programme drivers have graduated to Formula One, with four of those debuting directly with the McLaren F1 Team: Lewis Hamilton in 2007, Kevin Magnussen in 2014, Stoffel Vandoorne in 2016, and Lando Norris in 2019. Hamilton and Norris have won a Grand Prix race with the team. Gabriel Bortoleto will be the tenth graduate from their academy, the Brazilian set to race with Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber in 2025.
The program is managed by Stephanie Carlin, formerly of Carlin Motorsport.[2]
History
editThe programme was founded in 1998 by McLaren and Mercedes as the McLaren-Mercedes Young Driver Support Programme. The programme notably signed Lewis Hamilton, Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Minassian as some of its first drivers. From 2019 to 2021, no drivers were part of the program. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said this was due to the team's "very targeted" approach and already stable Formula One line-up, meaning it would be difficult for any young drivers to find a place in Formula One.[3][4]
In April 2023, the Young Driver Programme was replaced by the Driver Development Programme.[1] Later in October, the programme signed its first female driver in Bianca Bustamante, who will represent McLaren in the 2024 F1 Academy season.[5][6] In October 2024, the programme signed its second female driver in Ella Lloyd, who will represent McLaren in the 2025 F1 Academy season[7] in place of Bustamante, who will leave the series after completing her second season at the end of 2024.[8]
Drivers
editCurrent
edit
-
Ugo Ugochukwu -
Pato O'Ward -
Ryō Hirakawa -
Gabriel Bortoleto -
Bianca Bustamante -
Alex Dunne -
Martinius Stenshorne -
Brando Badoer
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Former
edit
- Championship titles highlighted in bold.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Hirakawa is also a member of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge
References
edit- ^ a b c d "McLAREN ANNOUNCES NEW DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME". McLaren.com. McLaren.
- ^ Gale, Ewan; Riberts, James (15 November 2024). "The unconventional route taken by McLaren's new academy chief". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ van Osten, Phillip (24 December 2020). "Brown: Lack of McLaren young drivers due to 'different philosophy'". F1i.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ Smith, Luke (23 December 2020). "McLaren sticking to "targeted" approach for F1 young driver programme". Autosport.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ a b "McLaren sign F1 Academy's Bianca Bustamante as first female member of Driver Development Programme". Formula 1®. 18 October 2023. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ "All 10 Formula 1 teams will have F1 Academy drivers and liveries for the 2024 season". F1® Academy. 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Ella Lloyd to represent McLaren for the 2025 F1 Academy season". McLaren. 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Rules and Regulations". F1 Academy. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
Additionally, all drivers may only compete in two seasons of the series.
- ^ "McLaren sign long-term deal with 13-year-old American karting ace Ugo Ugochukwu". www.formula1.com. 22 March 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ Jogia, Saajan (22 September 2023). "F1 News: McLaren Takes on New Reserve Driver". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ Wood, Ida (5 October 2023). "McLaren signs Bortoleto as junior, makes Badoer an 'optioned driver'". Formula Scout. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b "FIA FORMULA 3 DRIVERS ALEX DUNNE AND MARTINIUS STENSHORNE JOIN McLAREN DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME". McLaren. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ "2023 World Junior Karting Champion Dries Van Langendonck joins the McLaren Driver Development programme". www.mclaren.com. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ "Brando Badoer joins McLaren Driver Development programme". www.mclaren.com. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Noble, Jonathan. "Futures on Fast Forward". Atlas F1. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ "Mclaren Sign Kart Drivers". Crash. 9 April 1998. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ a b c "FAITH IN YOUTH: McLaren's young driver track record". Formula1.com. 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ Bradley, Charles (25 December 2018). "The F1 test driver who now saves wild jaguars". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ De Groote, Steven (6 August 2003). "McLaren signs Cheng Congfu". F1 Technical. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ "McLaren tukee suomalaislupausta". sportti.com. 19 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ^ Wood, Elliot (6 May 2019). "Nyck de Vries' split with McLaren confirmed". Formula Scout. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ "Stig's son joins McLaren". The Telegraph. 26 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ^ de Cotta, Ian (10 February 2014). "Tang wins big in New Zealand". Today Online.
- ^ "2017 McLaren-Honda Young Driver Programme members revealed". McLaren Racing. 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ "Lando Norris joins McLaren F1 young driver programme". GP Today. 2017. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ Wood, Elliot (9 March 2020). "Sergio Sette Camara leaves McLaren for return to Red Bull". Formula Scout. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ Fryer, Jenna (28 July 2022). "IndyCar champ Palou declares he will be at McLaren in 2023". AP News. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ Martin, Bruce (18 August 2023). "McLaren And Arrow McLaren File Lawsuit Against Alex Palou". Forbes. Retrieved 24 October 2023.