Having nurtured several young drivers since 1998 through McLaren’s Young Driver Programme, we take a look back at those who successfully graduated through the academy into their main Formula One team.
Having seen 17 drivers participate on the programme at various points over the years (excluding those who received support solely via McLaren BRDC Award), McLaren has ultimately helped six drivers into F1 although Giedo van der Garde and Alex Albon’s graduations came away from the programme.
We therefore will focus on four drivers who fully graduated through the programme into McLaren’s main F1 team and where they are now, starting with someone who will now forever be a legend of the sport.
Lewis Hamilton (1998-2006)
Having joined McLaren’s Young Driver Programme as a child, Lewis Hamilton turned out to be the team’s biggest star with numerous successes across multiple series, including the 2003 Formula Renault UK, 2005 F3 Euro and 2006 GP2 titles to earn a F1 seat in 2007 alongside Fernando Alonso.
Once on the big stage, Hamilton made instant impact with two wins and seven other podiums, but costly mistakes in the final two rounds saw him blow a huge opportunity to seal the title in his rookie season.
Hamilton however hit back to clinch the 2008 crown in dramatic fashion with a last-gasp move at Interlagos which gifted him the title by a point, in a season which saw him clinch the Monaco and British Grands Prix amongst five wins plus five other podium finishes
Subsequent five seasons saw Hamilton finish fourth and fifth on three and two occasions respectively in the standings, with 13 wins of which one of those victories came with Mercedes after his switch in 2013 after leaving McLaren.
Many at that time were critical of his decision but Hamilton proved that decision was correct as Mercedes dominated the hybrid era since it began in 2014, winning the title in six of the last seven seasons whilst smashing records – including the all-time race victory record in Portugal last October.
Hamilton’s success saw him knighted as a Sir in the New Year Honours after claiming his seventh title in Turkey in November, whilst he will now go for a record EIGHTH crown this season after signing a new contract in early February.
Kevin Magnussen (2010-2013)
After impressing in Danish F4 then Formula Renault competitions, Kevin Magnussen joined McLaren’s academy in 2010 where he enjoyed a third-placed finish in German F4 before finishing the 2011 British F3 season as Vice-Champion.
2012-13 saw Magnussen join Formula Renault 3.5 Series in which he enjoyed a strong rookie campaign, before pipping fellow McLaren junior – Stoffel Vandoorne to the 2013 crown to clinch a F1 seat with the team for 2014.
His rookie campaign however saw him often struggle for consistency following a debut second-placed finish in Australia, which resulted in his demotion to Reserve Driver in 2015 although he participated in the season opener due to injury for Fernando Alonso but his power unit failed before the race began.
2016 saw Magnussen switch to Renault where he struggled for results with just seven points gathered from two top-ten finishes ahead of a four season stint at Haas from 2017-20, of which he again struggled for results except for a strong 18 season in which he finished ninth overall.
In late October 2020, it was announced that Magnussen had been released at end of that season, with the Dane switching to WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for 2021 where he finished fifth on debut in Daytona.
Stoffel Vandoorne (2013-16)
Stoffel Vandoorne joined McLaren’s Young Driver Programme in 2013 off the back of a successful junior single-seater career up to that point, having won F4 Eurocup and 2012 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and finished in the top ten overall across three different series.
In his first season on the programme, Vandoorne finished as Formula Renault 3.5 Vice-Champion behind fellow McLaren junior – Kevin Magnussen before then again finishing runner-up in his first GP2 season in 2014.
Vandoorne then dominated the 2015 GP2 season with seven victories as he romped to the crown to secure a step up to F1 in 2016, where he was Reserve Driver but received an unexpected call-up for his F1 debut in Bahrain in which he finished tenth on debut.
2016 also saw Vandoorne race in Super Formula where he finished fourth overall with two race victories and just six points off the title.
Full seasons in F1 between 2017-18 followed in which the Belgian struggled with just 25 points amassed across both campaigns, with Vandoorne describing his two seasons as ‘very difficult’ amidst poor car performance and politics as he spoke to us in an exclusive interview in November.
Vandoorne has since bounced back with Mercedes in Formula E where he finished as Vice-Champion in the 2019-20 season and continues to race for the team this season, as well as finished third at 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours for SMP Racing.
Lando Norris (2017-18)
After enjoying a dominant start to his single-seater career including three titles in 2016 across Formula Renault 2.0 NEC and Eurocup series plus Toyota Racing Series, Lando Norris joined McLaren in 2017 as a Junior Driver.
In his first season as a McLaren junior, Norris romped to a dominant 2017 F3 Europe title with nine wins and 20 podiums overall before switching to F2 in 2018 where he finished as Vice-Champion to fellow Brit and now F1 rival – George Russell.
2018 also saw Norris receive seven FP1 sessions as Test Driver before he made the full graduation the following season in 2019, which saw the young Brit enjoy a strong rookie campaign as he finished 11th overall and won McLaren’s Qualifying head-to-head 11-10 against the more experienced Carlos Sainz.
Last season saw Norris continue to impress as he finished ninth overall with 97 points plus a maiden podium in Austria by virtue of a stunning final lap to snatch third once a penalty was applied to Lewis Hamilton, which represented a huge improvement on his total of 47 points and no podiums in 2019.
2021 sees Norris remain with McLaren for a third consecutive season as he faces a new challenge in Daniel Ricciardo, whilst looking to continue his rise up the standings against what looks set to be tough competition.
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