Ella Lloyd joins 2025 F1 ACADEMY grid with McLaren

Ella Lloyd will be embarking on her first full F1 ACADEMY season next year, with the Welsh racer joining the McLaren Driver Development programme to represent the team for the 2025 campaign with Rodin Motorsport.

The 19-year-old made her car racing debut in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2022, scoring points in 15 of the 25 races that season. The next year saw her progress to the Ginetta GT Championship, scoring 10 victories and a further eight podiums on her way to the Vice Champion title in the Pro Class.

This year has seen Lloyd achieve the Female Driver Trophy several times in the Formula Winter Series. She followed that up with a success rookie British F4 campaign in which she secured three second-place finishes, one third place and multiple points finishes to finish 11th in the Standings.

Lloyd has already had her first taste of racing in F1 ACADEMY, scoring two points finishes as the Wild Card entry for Round 5 in Singapore last month and now she’s raring to go next season.

“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. 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.”

Stephanie Carlin, Director of F1 Business Operations at McLaren Racing, added: “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.”

As part of her role in the programme, Lloyd will make her first appearance in papaya when she participates in Formula E’s first-ever Women’s Test in the GEN3 Evo car for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team on November 7 in Valencia, Spain.