McLaren add 11-year-old to young driver programme

Young talent from Cheshire joins elite development ranks

McLaren have added 11-year-old Harry Williams to their young driver programme, making him the team’s youngest ever signee. This marks a significant milestone, as Williams is two years younger than Lewis Hamilton was when he joined the team in 1998. Prior to his recruitment, Ella Hakkinen—daughter of double F1 world champion Mika—held the record for the programme’s youngest participant, having joined at age 14 last year.

McLaren’s development pathway has previously nurtured seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who began his journey with the team at 13 before debuting in F1 in 2007. Similarly, current McLaren driver Lando Norris entered the programme at 17. Alessandro Aluni Bravi, the team’s chief business affairs officer, highlighted the strategic focus of the initiative: “Our goal is to build a consistent pipeline, laddering into our race programmes in F1, IndyCar and the World Endurance Championship for many years to come. Adding Harry as a talented young karter demonstrates this.”

“For this driver, I think there is no target, no pressure other than enjoy karting to get maximum experience, but also to understand what does it mean to be a McLaren driver.”

Williams, based in Cheshire, began competing in karting in 2021. His achievements include winning the 2025 British Open Championship, claiming an O plate victory in the Italian Waterswift Series, and finishing fifth in the European Waterswift Championship. He expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity: “I am really excited to join the McLaren driver development programme. They’re known for developing talent, so it’s great to join the team as I continue to progress in karting and into single-seater racing in the future.”

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