Emanuele Pirro leading McLaren’s new young development programme

In a press release, McLaren F1 announced a new driver development program, as they have a long tradition of supporting drivers at the start of their F1 careers. Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne, and even Lando Norris, joined this year by rookie Oscar Piastri, have all been launched by the British company.

Emanuele Pirro to help young people

The announced goal is clear. McLaren will accompany young drivers in their development from karting to professional racing driver in order to facilitate the progression of emerging talents towards F1, all under the supervision of Italian Emanuele Pirro.

The man with five victories at Le Mans, who has served in recent years as an FIA steward, is making his return to the English team after a stint as a test driver between 1988 and 1992. Emanuele Pirro, grateful for this time, said he was delighted with this mission for several reasons. McLaren played a crucial role in my career by giving me the opportunity to secure a Formula 1 seat and to elevate myself to a higher level by working alongside Senna, Prost, and Berger.

With my team, my role will consist of creating an advanced program, selecting the best possible drivers, and providing them with all the tools they need to fully maximize their talent. Additionally, I will integrate them into McLaren’s mission, vision, and values, and I hope that one of them will develop within the F1 team. I love working with young drivers and helping them improve. Every time I have done it in the past, I have had a fulfilling experience, and I am excited to do it again,” he added, feeling motivated.

Also, McLaren hopes that its initiative will « provide race, test, or development drivers to its IndyCar and Formula E teams ».

Complete program

The program could create a pool of potential talents for the McLaren Formula 1 team, the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team, and the NEOM McLaren Formula E team, either with a race seat or as a test and development driver.

Zak Brown, Executive Director of the team, expressed great satisfaction with this project: McLaren has a long history of developing emerging talents into high-level race drivers, and I am proud that this will continue in the future. We have an experienced team that will be skillfully led by Emanuele, and they are capable of providing the necessary support and resources to develop young raw talents into highly competitive professional race drivers.

This program currently consists of Arrow McLaren IndyCar driver, Pato O’Ward, F1 reserve driver Alex Palou, and McLaren Young driver, Ugo Ugochukwu.

Brown said he was eager to continue supporting their development as we start implementing the McLaren Driver Development Program.