Former F4 British Championship driver Ella Lloyd completed testing for NEOM McLaren in the Formula E all-female test last week at the Circuito del Jarama.
Lloyd’s first public appearance as a McLaren development driver is just one early part of her long-term programme, which will also encompass a full season of F1 Academy in 2025 with the same Rodin team that looks like taking runaway points leader Abbi Pulling to the title this season.
Speaking to Formula E Notebook after the Jarama test, Lloyd said that she “didn’t really have many expectations (of the Formula E test) and that she had been “on the sim, so I’m used to it a little bit. I knew it was going to be fast, and it definitely was fast from the start.
“It gave me a good indication of how fast it was, especially pulling on. It was really fun to drive and hopefully I can drive it again.”
Lloyd previously raced in the F4 British Championship after getting into motorsport in a non-conventional way, having never competed in karting and at first showcasing her competitive spirit in a different sport .
That pursuit was in equestrian competition where she was successful at a county level before she elected to up the power of her ‘horses’ in motorsport.
Her initial involvement came when she participated in the FIA’s Girls on Track Karting Challenge held at Silverstone in 2018. She later competed in the 2023 Ginetta GT5 Championship, where she debuted with a win, and went on to secure 10 wins and 17 podium-finishes. She came runner-up behind Luke Garlick.
Now, after her first experience of Formula E so early in her career, Lloyd believes that the experience at Jarama gave her immediate confidence in exploring what the new Gen3Evo Nissan that is run by NEOM McLaren could do.
“As soon as I went out there was a few cars around me,” she said.
“They were going a little bit slower as they were doing push laps, but I was doing target laps, and I felt like I was able to just get on it straight away.
“Doing the sim time, I think really helped just being able to get on it straight away and being able to push.
“The team have been amazing. They’ve helped me a lot, not just today, yesterday, as well as just listening in, after the sim, and while doing the seat fit, and just learning all the different things about the car.”
Her debut race in F1 Academy came in late-September as she was the ‘Wild Card’ entry for Singapore. According to F1 Academy, the ‘Wild Card’ feature was ‘introduced to help strengthen the talent pool in the regions in which F1 Academy races and prioritises talented young drivers from each race region. At races where a driver from the local region is not available, the opportunity is made accessible to drivers from other regions who aspire to compete in F1 Academy in the future’”
During the practice session she experienced mechanical issues which hindered her performance in qualifying. Her best result came in the second race where she finished P7.
It was announced last month that the 19-year-old Welsh racing driver would be joining the McLaren Driver Development programme and entering the F1 Academy grid for the 2025 season.
Describing the differences between the Gen3 Evo car to anything she’s raced previously, Lloyd said, “I’ve only actually driven an F4 single seater and this is my second single-seater I’ve driven. There’s a lot more going on across the radio, with different scenarios and different strategies that we have to do.
“The wheel changes and things, so there’s a lot of communication over the radio. A lot more than what I’m used to.
“With cars out on track, not everyone’s doing the same thing. The tyres, you want to keep them cool and different things. It’s good to manage different cars around, there’s a lot more going on.”
Lloyd tested alongside fellow McLaren driver Bianca Bustamante at the pre-season all-female test at Jarama.
She finished the session with a best time of 1:32.374, +1.485 off the session’s leader Abbi Pulling. Though with experience in the sim and having only ever driven a F4 single-seater previously, finishing P7 overall is inherently impressive, and has been widely reported as one of the stand-out performances of the test.
Lloyd told FEN that Formula E could be a serious career option in the future, saying: “I think looking at a Formula E role before and after the test has been pretty similar, I think it’s a good opportunity. There’s no female’s currently in the championship, so I think to be a female in the championship would be an amazing opportunity.”
NEOM McLaren’s team manager and former double DTM champion Gary Paffett told FN that Lloyd’s test had been “impressive” and that she “didn’t ever sound stressed in the car on the radio, feedback was good and was quick from lap 1.”
By Georgia Williams
