Every junior single-seater driver wants to reach the top of the pyramid: Formula 1. Those who are part of driver academies have a much greater chance of doing so. This series explores the performances of driver academy members in 2025. Today, Feeder Series spotlights the McLaren Driver Development Programme.

By Calla Kra-Caskey

With their F1 lineup seemingly locked in for years to come, the reigning constructors’ champions have had little need to promote anyone from their junior squad. Perhaps for that reason, the McLaren Driver Development Programme saw plenty of turnover this year, with four drivers departing and six joining the squad over the course of the year. 

Alex Dunne (F2, P5) 

Alex Dunne departed the McLaren Driver Development Programme in October because he saw no F1 future with the team, but before that, he spent the majority of his rookie F2 season clad in Papaya, having joined the programme in May 2024. 

The Rodin Motorsport driver had a rollercoaster year. He was in solid championship contention early on in the season after winning two of the first three feature races in Bahrain and Imola, which would turn out to be his only wins of the year. And while the highs were high, the lows were incredibly low. His two pole positions in Monaco and Spa-Francorchamps ended in disaster, as he caused a first-corner pileup in the former and was dropped from first to ninth because of a post-race start sequence penalty in the latter. 

Dunne demonstrated his bold racecraft throughout the season, which spurred him to both impressive drives – such as his podiums in the wet Silverstone feature race and the Lusail feature – as well as contact with other drivers, as in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. Ultimately, he finished the season in fifth and could have reached much greater heights without his penchant for incidents. 

Since his leaving McLaren, rumours have swirled around Dunne’s future. At one point it looked almost certain that he would join the Red Bull Junior Team, but that never came to fruition. He is rumoured to be in talks for a reserve role at Alpine for 2026 as he drives for Rodin for another year in F2. 

Martinius Stenshorne (F3, P5; F2, P20*)

Another recent departee from the McLaren squad, Martinius Stenshorne completed his F3 campaign before moving to F2 for the final three rounds of the year. 

Stenshorne had a strong season in F3, finishing fifth in the standings and scoring 89 out of Hitech’s 90 points. He took two victories: the Monaco sprint from second, and the Austria feature race from 15th after Tsolov was disqualified from victory. He retired just once – in the Barcelona sprint because of a first-corner collision with Tim Tramnitz and Roman Bilinski. 

After the F3 season concluded, Stenshorne stepped up to F2. In Baku he raced for Trident, qualifying an impressive seventh but retiring from both races. He moved to Rodin for the final two rounds, scoring his first F2 points in the Lusail sprint but failing to score in the last three races. He’ll continue in F2 with Rodin next year, alongside fellow former McLaren junior Dunne. 

* Partial season

Ugo Ugochukwu (F3, P16; FR Middle East, P3) 

McLaren’s longest-serving junior driver, Ugo Ugochukwu also left the programme after a disappointing 2025 season in which he finished just 16th in F3. 

Ugochukwu started the year off well, taking a victory and five further podiums on his way to finishing third in FR Middle East with R-ace GP. His main campaign, on the other hand, wasn’t as successful. Prema struggled to get to grips with the new F3 machine and lost their frontrunning status, with the American driver accumulating just four points across the first five rounds of the season.

Ahead of the Austrian round, Prema removed the papaya McLaren livery from Ugochukwu’s car, running plain carbon fibre as part of a weight-reduction effort. That change marked a turnaround for the 18-year-old, who is the tallest active driver in junior single-seaters. He finished in the points in a majority of the remaining races and took podiums in the Spa and Hungary sprints.

Even with those improved results, he is not staying with McLaren, but he did secure a seat with reigning champions Campos Racing to continue in F3 for a second season in 2026.  

Brando Badoer (F3, P25; FR Middle East, P4) 

After spending 2024 being assessed by McLaren as an optioned driver, Badoer became a full junior for 2025. After a difficult rookie F3 campaign, however, he departed the squad at the end of the season. 

Like Ugochukwu, Badoer started the season well in FR Middle East, finishing fourth for PHM Racing. He took his first single-seater victory in the second Abu Dhabi round and rounded out the season with a further three podiums, but he couldn’t find the same success in F3. He went scoreless in the first seven rounds, failing to finish in the top 15 in all but one race. 

Badoer finally took his first F3 points at Spa in round eight by finishing ninth in the sprint. After following Ugochukwu in stripping the paint from his Prema machine, he finished sixth and seventh in the Hungary round, eventually wrapping up the season in 25th place with 13 points. 

In 2026, Badoer will move to Rodin, who finished just ahead of Prema in the teams’ standings, without McLaren’s backing. 

Matteo De Palo (FR Europe, P2; FR Middle East, P19*)

Matteo De Palo joined McLaren in November after wrapping up his successful FR Europe season, just in time to don papaya for the Macau Grand Prix. Driving for R-ace GP, he set the ninth-best time in qualifying but received a three-place grid penalty for impeding multiple drivers. In the qualifying race, he made up one spot, and he improved further in the main race, going from 11th on the grid to finish eighth – a disappointing result given his form earlier in the season. 

De Palo started the year with a brief appearance in FR Middle East, joining Evans GP for the fourth and fifth rounds. He took a best result of ninth at Lusail, finishing the series 19th. 

For his main campaign, De Palo moved from Saintéloc to Trident for his second season of FR Europe. He started the season with his first victory in two years in the opening race in Misano. De Palo was by far the best Trident driver, taking 277 of the team’s 305 points. He ultimately finished runner-up to Freddie Slater, taking further victories at Budapest, Spielberg and Barcelona. 

In 2026, he will move up to F3 with Trident, whose drivers have won the last three championships, and will partner Slater and F3 race winner Noah Strømsted. 

* Partial season

Ella Lloyd (F1 Academy, P4; British F4, P14) 

After an impressive F1 Academy wild card debut in Singapore last year, Ella Lloyd was picked up by McLaren to represent them in the series full-time for 2025. She had a strong season driving for Rodin, finishing as the top first-year driver in fourth overall. 

Lloyd’s greatest strength was her consistency. Outside of retirements in Miami and Las Vegas, the Welsh driver scored points in every race. She took her first single-seater victory in the reverse-grid race at Jeddah after starting second. Her most impressive weekend came in Montréal, where she placed second in all three races. 

Lloyd also returned to British F4 as a participant in the Challenge Cup, a subcategory for drivers racing in no more than seven of ten rounds. Lloyd moved from JHR Developments to Rodin but had a worse season than her rookie year, scoring 52 points from 21 races in 2025 compared to 99 from 26 in 2024. This season, she stood on the podium once in Zandvoort and ended the season 14th overall, second in the Challenge Cup standings. 

Lloyd will continue to represent McLaren in F1 Academy with Rodin next year. She has also tested GB3 machinery, pointing to a possible dual campaign in both F4- and FR-spec cars. 

Dries Van Langendonck (Karting, various; British F4, P21*)

At only 15 years old, Dries Van Langendonck was McLaren’s youngest talent to have raced in single-seaters this year, and he may be their most promising.

Van Langendonck joined the McLaren Driver Development Programme in August 2024, shortly after winning the FIA Karting European Championship title in the OK-Junior category. This year, he karted at the senior level before stepping up to single-seaters on his 15th birthday. 

His karting results were impressive even though he only completed partial seasons in most series in which he participated. The Belgian driver started the year with a bang, winning the WSK Super Master Series in the OK category. He then finished eighth in the FIA Karting European Championship for Prema despite only participating in two rounds. His best result came in the first round in Campillos, where he took second in the final.

He also participated in two of five rounds of the Champions of the Future Euro Series, in which he finished 17th overall with a best result of fourth in the Campillos final. 

On his 15th birthday on 30 August, Van Langendonck participated in his first F4 race in British F4 for Rodin Motorsport at Donington Park. The following day, in just his third F4 race, he took victory and became the youngest winner in series history. Across the next two rounds, he finished in the points in three of six races with a next-best result of fifth, ultimately ending his partial British F4 season in 21st. 

Next year, Van Langendonck is expected to continue in British F4, with a likely winter campaign in the Formula Winter Series.

* Partial season

New additions

Since the departures of Dunne, Stenshorne, Ugochukwu and Badoer, McLaren have made five additions to their junior team – spanning across the junior ladder from karting to F2 drivers. 

British karter Ella Stevens joined the programme in November as she prepares to step up to single-seaters next year. The 19-year-old driver has competed in the British Kart Championships’ KZ2 class for the past three years, finishing as runner-up in 2025 and becoming the only female race winner in series history. Stevens also topped the inaugural F1 Academy rookie test, helping her secure an F1 Academy seat with Rodin under a second McLaren entry branded as ‘McLaren Oxagon’ for 2026. 

McLaren have also signed 15-year-old Ella Häkkinen, daughter of McLaren legend Mika Häkkinen, who won two F1 world titles with the team. She had a mixed year across international karting, finishing fifth in the Champions of the Future Academy Program, 65th in the Champions of the Future Euro Series, and 59th in the FIA Karting European Championship. Next year, she’ll participate in a testing program to prepare for her move to single-seaters. 

After he sealed the F2 title in Qatar in late November, McLaren announced Leonardo Fornaroli would join the team. The Italian driver took four victories and five further podiums on his way to becoming back-to-back F3 and F2 champion. Two of his predecessors, Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Bortoleto, have also driven with McLaren backing – Piastri as a member of the F1 squad and Bortoleto in their junior programme. Fornaroli will take on a test and development role for McLaren next year, with no other plans announced yet. 

Third-place F2 finisher Richard Verschoor was also signed to the development programme by the Woking squad. The five-year F2 veteran enjoyed his best season in the series this year, taking four victories and two further podiums with MP Motorsport. His racing plans for 2026 are yet to be revealed. 

Lastly, McLaren added karting prodigy Christian Costoya to their junior squad. After finishing runner-up in the FIA Karting European Championship at the OK-J level last year, Costoya won both the FIA Karting European Championship and the WSK Euro Series at the OK level in 2025. He also finished second in the WSK Super Master Series and third in the Champions of the Future Euro Series. Next year, he’ll step up to single-seaters, starting with the F4 UAE Trophy in January. 

Header photo credit: Macau Grand Prix Organising Committee