The McLaren Driver Development Programme (formerly known as the McLaren Young Driver Programme, the McLaren-Honda Young Driver Programme, and the McLaren-Mercedes Young Driver Support Programme) is a

driver development program A driver development program (or driver development team) is a system or structure designed for young kart and race car drivers to learn and perfect their racing skills. These programmes are devised by racing teams, external companies and funded ...

operated by

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

. It is intended to offer year-by-year guidance, assistance and endorsement to help promising young racers climb the motorsport ladder. 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 championship was won with McLaren. Hamilton is currently the only graduate from the programme who has won a World Championship as a McLaren driver. Four programme drivers have graduated to the McLaren F1 Team: Lewis Hamilton in , Kevin Magnussen in , Stoffel Vandoorne in , and Lando Norris in . Hamilton and Norris have won a Grand Prix race with the team.

History

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. In March 2021, American karting driver

Ugo Ugochukwu Ugo Ugochukwu Orlandi (born April 23, 2007) is an American racing driver of Nigerian and Italian descent. He currently competes in the Italian F4 Championship with Prema Racing, having previously finished third in the F4 British Championship ...

was recruited into the programme. In April 2023, the Young Driver Programme was replaced by the Driver Development Programme. Later in October, the programme signed its first female driver in Bianca Bustamante, with Bustamante representing McLaren in the

2024 F1 Academy season The 2024 F1 Academy is a planned motor racing championship that is scheduled to be the second season of the F1 Academy, an all-female Formula 4-level racing series founded and organized under the management of Formula Motorsport Limited. Entri ...

History

Drivers

Current

Former

See also

Notes

References