Ella Lloyd joins McLaren for 2025 F1 Academy season

Welsh racer Ella Lloyd will join the 2025 F1 Academy with Rodin Motorsport in McLaren colors, following her impressive British F4 season where she secured four podiums in her rookie single seater campaign.

Photo credits: McLaren

Having just completed her rookie season in single seaters with a remarkable campaign in British Formula 4, Welsh racer Ella Lloyd is set to make the transition to the all-female championship F1 Academy – and will do so with McLaren colours, in an entry operated by Rodin Motorsport.

Lloyd made her F1 Academy debut last time out at Singapore, as she entered the fifth round of the 2024 season as the Wild Card in the fourth Prema car, under the banner of the Discover Your Drive initiative. Lloyd made good progress over the weekend on the tricky street circuit, recovering from a difficult practice where she had her driving time cut short by a technical issue to bounce back with two top-ten finishes in the races, scoring a seventh place in Race 2 as her personal best. She collected 8 points over the weekend.

“I’m proud to be joining the 2025 F1 Academy grid with Rodin Motorsport in the McLaren F1 Team entry", Lloyd commented. "I now have everything I need to keep developing and pushing the boundaries as a female in motorsport; I can’t wait to go racing and get behind the wheel of the F1 Academy car again.”

The McLaren Formula 1 Team entry will therefore be operated by Rodin Motorsport in 2025, with Lloyd also joining the ranks of the McLaren Driver Development programme, headed by Stephanie Carlin.

 “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", Stephanie Carlin added. "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.”

Lloyd enjoyed an impressive British F4 campaign, her first in single seaters, securing four podiums – one on the season finale at Brands Hatch last weekend – three of which runner up positions. With 13 top-ten finishes out of 27 races, she finished the season in 11th place in the standings, with a remarkable 99 points to her name.

Ella had made her Formula 4 debut only a earlier in 2024 in Formula Winter Series, where she already competed with British team Rodin Motorsport at Aragon and Barcelona.

Prior to her switch to single seaters, Lloyd had been among the protagonists of the Ginetta GT Championship in 2023, where she scored 10 wins to become Vice-Champion in the GT5 class, after making her debut in the 2022 Ginetta Junior Championship.

“I’m really excited to be joining the McLaren Driver Development programme as the team’s F1 ACADEMY driver in 2025,” Ella added. “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."

Lloyd is the second driver to be announced for the 2025 F1 Academy season, following Chloe Chambers in the Red Bull Ford Motor Company entry.