McLaren picks Ella Lloyd for the F1 Academy 2025 season

The Welsh driver impressed as F1 Academy’s wildcard entrant in Singapore in September, where she qualified eighth for both races after having only a single practice session to get up to speed. She climbed to sixth in race one, but dropped down the order to ninth after being handed a five second penalty for a jump start, and finished race two in seventh.

Lloyd started racing in 2022 in the Ginetta Junior Championship, where she picked up points in 15 out of 25 races, before competing in the Ginetta GT Championship the following year where she was vice-champion.

In 2024, Lloyd was involved in the Formula Winter Series as well as British F4, where she has had four podium-place finishes.

The 19-year-old will also be participating in Formula E’s first all-female test in Valencia in November, driving for McLaren as part of pre-season testing of the new Gen3 Evo cars.

“I’m really excited to be joining the McLaren Driver Development programme as the team’s F1 Academy driver in 2025,” said Lloyd. “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.”

Stephanie Carlin, Director of F1 Business Operations for McLaren Racing, said: “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 development.”