McLaren Driver Development Programme
 | |
| Founded | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Base | McLaren Technology Centre Woking, Surrey, England |
| Team principal(s) | Alessandro Alunni Bravi Warren Hughes |
| Current drivers | IndyCar Pato O'WardFIA Formula 2  Leonardo Fornaroli Richard VerschoorFIA Formula 3 Matteo De Palo (starting 2026)F1 Academy  Ella Lloyd Ella Stevens (starting 2026)British F4  Dries Van LangendonckF4 Middle East  Christian CostoyaKarting  Ella Hakkinen (starting 2026) |
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. 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.
The programme's most notable participant is Lewis Hamilton, who joined whilst karting and eventually graduated to the McLaren F1 Team. He has won the Formula One Drivers' Championship seven times between 2008 and 2020, including the 2008 championship, which was won with McLaren. Hamilton is currently the only graduate from the programme who has won a World Drivers' Championship.
As of 2025, 10 former programme drivers have progressed to Formula One, with four graduating directly with McLaren: Lewis Hamilton in 2007, Kevin Magnussen in 2014, Stoffel Vandoorne in 2016, and Lando Norris in 2019. Hamilton and Norris have each won Grands Prix with the team.
History
[edit]The 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.[1][2]
In April 2023, the Young Driver Programme was replaced by the Driver Development Programme.[3] Later in October, the programme signed its first female driver in Bianca Bustamante, who represented McLaren in the 2024 season of F1 Academy.[4][5] In October 2024, the programme signed its second female driver in Ella Lloyd, who represented McLaren in the 2025 F1 Academy season[6] in place of Bustamante, who left the series and the programme after completing her second season.[7] In November 2025, the programme announced the signing of Ella Häkkinen, the programme's youngest signing at the age of 14 and the daughter of 1998 and 1999 World Drivers' Champion Mika Häkkinen. The programme also signed Ella Stevens, who will join Lloyd as McLaren's second F1 Academy supported driver for the 2026 season.[8]
Current drivers
[edit]| Driver | Since | Current series | Titles as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pato O'Ward[3]
|
2023– | IndyCar Series | None |
| Dries Van Langendonck[9]
|
2024– | Karting (OK) F4 British Championship |
None |
| Ella Lloyd[6]
|
2025– | F1 Academy F4 British Championship |
None |
| Matteo De Palo[10]
|
2026– | Formula Regional European Championship | None |
| Christian Costoya[11]
|
2026– | Karting | None |
| Leonardo Fornaroli[11]
|
2026– | FIA Formula 2 Championship | None |
| Ella Häkkinen[12]
|
2026– | Karting | None |
| Ella Stevens[12]
|
2026– | Karting | None |
| Richard Verschoor[11]
|
2026– | FIA Formula 2 Championship | None |
Graduates to Formula 1
[edit]This list contains the drivers that have graduated to Formula 1 with McLaren support. Therefore, drivers who have had support in the past and entered Formula 1 through other means, such as Nick Heidfeld and Gabriel Bortoleto, are not included.[13]
| Driver | Academy experience | F1 experience with McLaren | F1 experience with other teams | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Former series | |||
| Lewis Hamilton
|
1998–2006 | Karting (1998–2001) British Formula Renault Championship (2002–2003) Formula 3 Euro Series (2004–2005) GP2 Series (2006) |
2007–2012 | Mercedes (2013–2024) Ferrari (2025–) |
 Kevin Magnussen
|
2010–2013 | German Formula Three Championship (2010) British Formula 3 International Series (2011) Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2012–2013) |
2014–2015 | Renault (2016) Haas (2017–2020, 2022–2024) |
| Stoffel Vandoorne
|
2013–2016 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2013) GP2 Series (2014–2015) Super Formula (2016) |
2016–2018 | — |
| Lando Norris
|
2017–2018 | FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2017) FIA Formula 2 Championship (2018) |
2019– | — |
Former drivers
[edit]
- Championship titles highlighted in bold.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b Driver was simultaneously a member of the Honda Formula Dream Project.
- ^ Hirakawa was simultaneously a member of the TGR Driver Challenge Program.
- ^ Badoer was signed to the programme as "optioned driver" in 2023 before earning full junior status in 2024.[31]
References
[edit]- ^ 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 ANNOUNCES NEW DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME". McLaren.com. McLaren.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Morales, Luisa (18 February 2025). "Bianca Bustamante confirms exit from McLaren ahead of GB3 Championship debut with Elite Motorsport". One Sports. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ Baldwin, Alan (17 November 2025). "McLaren add 14-year-old Ella Hakkinen to driver programme". Reuters. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ^ "2023 World Junior Karting Champion Dries Van Langendonck joins the McLaren Driver Development programme". www.mclaren.com. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ "McLAREN Racing signs Matteo De Palo to its Driver Development Programme and shares additional updates". McLaren. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ a b c "McLAREN Racing make three exciting additions to its Driver Development Programme". McLaren. 2 December 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
- ^ a b "McLAREN Racing expands commitment to supporting the next generation of female motorsport talent". McLaren. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ^ "Kick Sauber confirm rookie Bortoleto as second driver for 2025". 6 November 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b c Chapman, Simon (11 November 2025). "McLaren dumps three drivers from F1 junior program". Speedcafe. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "FIA FORMULA 3 DRIVERS ALEX DUNNE AND MARTINIUS STENSHORNE JOIN McLAREN DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME". McLaren. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ a b Wood, Ida (7 October 2024). "Badoer earns full McLaren junior status and Prema seat in F3". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
