Founded | 1998 |
---|---|
Base | Woking, Surrey, England, UK |
Current drivers | WEC Ryō Hirakawa IndyCar Pato O'Ward [1] Formula 2 Gabriel Bortoleto Formula 3 Alex Dunne Martinius Stenshorne FRECA Ugo Ugochukwu [1] F1 Academy Bianca Bustamante Karting Dries Van Langendonck |
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 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 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 Championship as a McLaren driver.
Four programme drivers have graduated to 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.
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. [2] [3] In March 2021, American karting driver Ugo Ugochukwu was recruited into the programme. [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, with Bustamante representing McLaren in the 2024 F1 Academy season. [5] [6]
Driver | Since | Current series | Titles achieved as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
---|---|---|---|
Ugo Ugochukwu [4] | 2021– | Formula Regional Middle East Championship Formula Regional European Championship | Euro 4 Championship ( 2023 ) |
Pato O'Ward [1] | 2023– | IndyCar Series | none as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
Ryō Hirakawa [7] [lower-alpha 1] | 2023– | FIA World Endurance Championship | FIA World Endurance Championship ( 2023 ) |
Gabriel Bortoleto [8] | 2023– | FIA Formula 2 Championship | none as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
Bianca Bustamante [5] | 2023– | Formula Winter Series F1 Academy | none as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
Alex Dunne [9] | 2024– | FIA Formula 3 Championship | none as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
Martinius Stenshorne [9] | 2024– | FIA Formula 3 Championship | none as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
Dries Van Langendonck [10] | 2024– | Karting | none as McLaren Driver Development Programme member |
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