McLaren announce new driver to 2025 plans after contract clause triggered

McLaren has added hot Italian prospect Brando Badoer to the fold, at the same time announcing their F3 2025 plans.

18-year-old Badoer has been involved in a year-long McLaren evaluation period, bidding to land himself a spot in their driver development programme. And it is mission complete, Badoer securing himself McLaren backing and a huge promotion to Formula 3.

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Badoer has impressed in his 2024 Formula Regional European Championship efforts, the Italian currently P5 in the standings with seven podium finishes achieved as part of Van Amersfoort Racing. That tally included a run of five consecutive P2 finishes.

And Badoer’s form has convinced McLaren to trigger a contract clause that makes him a fully-fledged member of their driver programme, effective immediately, while McLaren has announced that the Italian will step up to F3 in 2025, joining the trophy-laden Prema team, where one of his team-mates will be fellow McLaren junior, American prospect Ugo Ugochukwu.

Brando is the son of former F1 driver Luca Badoer, who made 50 grand prix starts, and is perhaps best known for finishing his F1 career as Felipe Massa’s Ferrari replacement at the 2009 European and Belgian GPs after Massa was injured by debris which struck his helmet in Hungarian GP qualifying.

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Reacting to the announcement, Brando said: “I am excited to join the McLaren Driver Development programme. It’s a fantastic opportunity to join a team with such a great racing heritage and a proven record for developing talent.

“Competing in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Prema Racing will help continue my progression and I’d like to thank the whole team at McLaren for their support. I can’t wait to learn from the team’s guidance and get racing in the team’s iconic colours.”

Stephanie Carlin, McLaren’s F1 business operations director and driver development programme chief, added: “It’s great to welcome Brando to our Driver Development programme.

“We’ve kept a close eye on him over the past year and have been impressed with his performances as a rookie in the competitive Formula Regional championship, so it made sense to exercise our option and bring him into the programme full-time.

“We look forward to seeing him racing in papaya and supporting his development as he moves to compete in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Prema Racing.”

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