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.
As of , 10 former programme drivers have progressed to Formula One, with four graduating directly with McLaren: Lewis Hamilton in , Kevin Magnussen in , Stoffel Vandoorne in , and Lando Norris in . Hamilton and Norris have each won a Formula One World Drivers' Championship ( and , respectively) and multiple Grands Prix with McLaren. Hamilton, one of the programme's first and most notable participant, won the drivers' championship seven times between 2008 and .
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 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, who represented McLaren in the 2024 season of F1 Academy. In October 2024, the programme signed its second female driver in Ella Lloyd, who represented McLaren in the 2025 F1 Academy season in place of Bustamante, who left the series and the programme after completing her second season. 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 and World Drivers' Champion and former McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen. The programme also signed Ella Stevens, who will join Lloyd as McLaren's second F1 Academy supported driver for the 2026 season.
Current drivers
Driver Titles as McLaren Driver Development Programme member Pato O'Ward 2023– IndyCar Series None Dries Van Langendonck 2024– Formula Winter SeriesF4 British Championship Formula Winter Series (2026) Ella Lloyd 2025– F1 Academy None Matteo De Palo 2026– FIA Formula 3 Championship None Christian Costoya 2026– UAE4 SeriesItalian F4 ChampionshipE4 Championship None Leonardo Fornaroli 2026– TBA None Ella Häkkinen 2026– Formula 4 CEZ Championship None Grégoire Saucy 2026– European Le Mans Series None Ella Stevens 2026– F1 AcademyFormula Winter Series None Richard Verschoor 2026– European Le Mans Series None Harry Williams 2026– Karting None
Graduates to Formula One This list contains the drivers that have graduated to Formula One with McLaren. Therefore, drivers who have had support in the past and entered F1 through other teams such as Nick Heidfeld (with Prost Grand Prix) and Gabriel Bortoleto (with Sauber), are not included.
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) –– Mercedes (–)Ferrari (–) Kevin Magnussen 2010–2013 German Formula Three Championship (2010)British Formula 3 International Series (2011)Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2012–2013) – Renault ()Haas (–, –) Stoffel Vandoorne 2013–2016 Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2013)GP2 Series (2014–2015)Super Formula (2016) – Lando Norris† 2017–2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2017)FIA Formula 2 Championship () –– Championship titles highlighted in bold. † denotes currently active Formula One drivers.
Former drivers Driver Years F1 team(s) Wesley Graves 1998 Karting (1998) None Nicolas Minassian 1998 International Formula 3000 Championship (1998) None Norman Simon 1998 German Formula Three Championship (1998) None Ricardo Zonta 1998 FIA GT Championship (1998) BAR (1999–2000)Jordan (2001)Toyota (2004–2005) Nick Heidfeld 1998–1999 International Formula 3000 Championship (1998–1999) Prost (2000)Sauber (2001–2003; 2010)Jordan (2004)Williams (2005)BMW Sauber (2006–2009)Renault (2011) Mário Haberfeld 1999 International Formula 3000 Championship (1999) None Cheng Congfu 2003–2006 British Formula Renault Championship (2003–2006) None Giedo van der Garde 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series (2006) Caterham (2013) Oliver Rowland 2007–2010 Karting (2007–2010) None Alexander Albon 2010 Karting (2010) Toro Rosso (2019)Red Bull Racing (2019–2020)Williams (2022–) Jack Harvey 2010 Formula BMW Europe (2010) None Petri Suvanto 2010 Formula BMW Europe (2010) None Oliver Turvey 2010–2011 GP2 Series (2010–2011) None Ben Barnicoat 2010–2015 Karting (2010–2013)Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2014)Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2014–2015) None Nyck de Vries 2010–2018 Karting (2010–2011)Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2012–2014)Formula Renault 2.0 Alps (2013–2014)Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2015)GP3 Series (2016)FIA Formula 2 Championship (–) Williams (2022)AlphaTauri (2023) Tom Blomqvist 2012 FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2012) None Andrew Tang 2012–2014 Karting (2012)Toyota Racing Series (2013–2014)Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series (2013–2014) None Nobuharu Matsushita 2015–2017 GP2 Series (2015–2016)FIA Formula 2 Championship () None Nirei Fukuzumi 2016–2017 GP3 Series (2016–2017) None Sérgio Sette Câmara 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship () None Ugo Ugochukwu 2021–2025 Karting (2021)F4 British Championship (2022)ADAC Formula 4 Championship (2022)Italian F4 Championship (2022–2023)Euro 4 Championship (2023)Formula Regional Middle East Championship (2024–2025)Formula Regional European Championship (2024)GB3 Championship (2024)FIA FR World Cup (2024)FIA Formula 3 Championship (2025) None Álex Palou 2023 IndyCar Series (2023) None Gabriel Bortoleto 2023–2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship (2024) Sauber (2025)Audi (2026–) Ryō Hirakawa 2023–2024 Super Formula (2023)FIA World Endurance Championship (2023–2024) None Bianca Bustamante 2024 F1 Academy (2024)Formula Winter Series (2024)F4 British Championship (2024)Italian F4 Championship (2024)Euro 4 Championship (2024) None Alex Dunne 2024–2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship (2024)FIA Formula 2 Championship (2025) None Martinius Stenshorne 2024–2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship (2024–2025)FIA Formula 2 Championship (2025) None Brando Badoer 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship (2025) None Championship titles highlighted in bold.
See also McLaren Autosport BRDC Award McLaren GT Driver Academy
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