Ella Lloyd joins F1 Academy 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 next season with Rodin Motorsport.

As part of her role in the programme, Lloyd will also compete in Formula E’s Women’s Test – for NEOM McLaren in November, as part of pre-season testing for the 2024/25 season.

The 19 year old made her car racing debut back in 2022 in the Ginetta Junior championship, scoring points in 15 of 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 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 also 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, where she scored points twice as the Wild Card Entry for Round 5 in Singapore last month.

I’m really excited to be joining the McLaren Driver Development programme as the team’s F1 ACADEMY driver in 2025. 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 on the news.

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.
Stephanie Carlin, Director of F1 Business Operations at McLaren.