Welsh junior Ella Lloyd is set to make her F1 Academy debut with McLaren for the 2025 season, replacing Bianca Bustamante.
The 2025 F1 Academy grid is beginning to take shape. Following the announcement that Chloe Chambers will embark on her second year in the championship with Red Bull Ford, 19-year-old Ella Lloyd will represent McLaren through Rodin Motorsport.
She will replace Bianca Bustamante as the McLaren representative in F1 Academy.
“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.”
You may remember Lloyd from her Wild Card entry stint for Round 5 in Singapore in September. She competed in a special edition livery and race suit that showcased the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive programme.
Wild Card driver Ella Lloyd showed her pace in Singapore after a strong qualifying and 2 points finishes 💪 #F1Academy #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/iupN5aKxYg
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) September 25, 2024
Journey So Far
Lloyd began her motorsport journey in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2022, where she consistently impressed by scoring points in 15 of the 25 races that season. Her best finish of 11th and a season ranking of 21st overall, along with a 10th-place rookie standing, marked her as a promising talent.
In 2023, she advanced to the Ginetta GT5 Championship where she was backed by her selection for the Motorsport UK Academy Futures programme. She showcased her skill with an impressive 10 victories and an additional eight podiums. This ultimately earned her the Vice Champion title in the Pro Class.
Lloyd has built on that momentum this year, earning the Female Driver Trophy multiple times in the Formula Winter Series. She made her debut with Rodin Motorsport.
British F4
Continuing with the Motorsport UK Academy Futures programme, Lloyd joined JHR Developments for the 2024 British F4 Championship. She started the season solidly at Donington Park, finishing 8th and 7th.
A challenging round at Brands Hatch followed, where a collision forced her into the barriers, but she rebounded with determined drives at Snetterton and Thruxton, finishing 7th and 10th, respectively.
Lloyd’s season peak arrived at Silverstone Circuit, where she achieved her maiden single-seater podium by finishing 2nd in a reverse grid race, after starting from pole and conceding victory to her teammate Leo Robinson.
The season continued with mixed results at Zandvoort and Knockhill, where she placed 5th and 7th in Zandvoort’s second and third races but retired after a gravel trap incident in Knockhill’s first race. However, she and Robinson achieved a second 1-2 finish in the reverse grid race, with Lloyd again starting from pole and taking a solid 2nd place.
Returning to Donington Park for a makeup round, Lloyd retired from the first race but achieved another podium with a third-place finish in the third race.
Her call-up to the 2024 F1 Academy season as a wildcard prevented her from competing at the following Silverstone round, yet she returned for the final round at Brands Hatch. It was here where she secured her fourth podium of the season with another 2nd-place finish and concluded her campaign with a 9th place in the final race.
Lloyd finished the season 11th in the standings, rounding off with 99 points and four podiums, marking an impressive F4 debut year.
She also raced alongside this year’s F1 Academy Championship leader, Abbi Pulling.
Lloyd lands another podium! 🏆
Ella Lloyd, the Singapore wildcard for F1 Academy, secured a P2 finish in British F4 last weekend, marking her third podium of the series! 🏎💥📸: JEP/Dom Gibbons, JPR Photos/Jonny Rogers#WomenInMotorsport #BritishF4 pic.twitter.com/NkfUBgX32e
— Females in Motorsport (@FemalesinMSport) October 7, 2024
Lloyd’s continuity highlights her potential as one of British motorsport’s most promising young drivers.
Formula E experience
Like Chambers, Lloyd joined the FIA’s first-ever Women’s Test in Formula E’s pre-season testing on 7 November in Madrid. She shared the track with Bustamante. Both drivers piloted the GEN3 Evo car for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, marking a significant step in their careers and a historic moment for women in motorsport.
Bustamante set the third fastest time of the day, while Lloyd was in P7, rounding up a strong session for McLaren.
