McLaren have announced the signing of Welsh 19-year-old Ella Lloyd as one of their drivers for the 2025 F1 Academy season.
Lloyd will also be joining the McLaren Driver Development programme alongside her fellow F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante. The programme has seen drivers such as seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton and Grand Prix winner Lando Norris, to name a few, rise through its ranks to success in Formula 1—putting Lloyd in a hopeful position for a F2 or F1 appearance in the future.
The teenager from Pontypridd, South Wales, has only got two years under her belt but has made a significant impact in her short career. Lloyd started racing competitively in 2022 in the Ginetta Junior Championship which saw her finish in the points positions in an impressive fifteen of the twenty-five races that season.
In 2023 she moved up to the Pro Class of the Ginetta GT Championship in which she gained the Vice Champion title with eighteen podium finishes, including ten wins. Earlier this year, the Welsh teen competed in the Formula Winter Series taking the Female Driver Trophy home several times.
Following this, Lloyd’s success carried on as she competed in British F4 and finished 11 th overall with four podium finishes. “I’m really excited to be joining the McLaren Driver Development programme as the team’s F1 Academy driver in 2025.” said Lloyd in the announcement on the McLaren Website. “It’s an honour to drive for a team that has such a great racing history, and also a long track record for developing talent. “With McLaren, I now have everything I need to keep developing and pushing the boundaries as a female in motorsport. Thank you to Zak Brown, Stephanie Carlin and the entire McLaren team for their faith in me. I can’t wait to get racing in papaya.”
Lloyd has already competed in F1 Academy as the Wild Card entry for Round 5 at Singapore in September. This saw her score two points finishes, setting herself up for a positive trajectory for the 2025 season.
Stephanie Carlin, Director of F1 Business Operations at McLaren Racing and leader of the McLaren driver development programme, told the Mclaren Website: “I am pleased to welcome Ella to the McLaren Driver Development programme ahead of her debut as our F1 Academy driver for the 2025 season.
Ella has great talent and potential and has already cemented herself in the series, performing brilliantly as the Wild Card entry in Singapore, so we’re excited to see what she can do with us. We look forward to supporting her.”
Ella Lloyds’ first ontrack appearance for McLaren was on the 7th of November when she drives in Formula E’s Women’s Test in Valencia, Spain for the NEOM McLaren Formula E team.