Ella Mai Lloyd (born 20 July 2005) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

racing driver from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

who currently competes for

Rodin Motorsport Rodin Motorsport is a New Zealand motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in six championships: FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, GB3 Championship, F1 Aca ...

F1 Academy F1 Academy is a female-only, Formula 4-level Formula racing, single-seater racing championship founded by the Formula One Group. The championship is a One-design racing, spec series, meaning that all teams compete with an identical Tatuus F4-T4 ...

and the

F4 British Championship The F4 British Championship (full name Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA, formerly known as F4 British Championship certified by FIA — powered by Ford (2016–21), MSA Formula (2015)) is a single-seater motorsport seri ...

. She is a member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, and was runner-up in the 2023 Ginetta GT5 Challenge.

Career

Early career

Despite never competing in karting, Lloyd's first taste of motorsport came in 2018 when she was invited to take part in the FIA's Girls on Track Karting Challenge at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

. She formally began her career four years later, in the 2022 Ginetta Junior Championship. Racing for Assetto Motorsport, she scored points in 15 of 25 races and recorded a best race finish of 11th. In early 2023, Lloyd was chosen for the

Motorsport UK Motorsport UK (MSUK), formerly known as the Motor Sports Association (MSA), is a national membership organisation and governing body for four-wheel motorsport in the United Kingdom. Legally, it is a not-for-profit private company limited by guar ...

Academy Futures program and moved up to the Ginetta GT5 Challenge with Xentek Motorsport. The season was an instant success, as she won on debut and picked up 10 wins, 10 pole positions and 17 podiums, eventually finishing runner-up behind Luke Garlick.

Formula 4

2024

Lloyd made her single-seater debut in the 2024 Formula Winter Series, driving for

in two rounds. In her debut weekend she had her best qualifying time deleted for causing a red flag, which meant she started in 38th. She made up more than 30 positions over the three races, finishing in 21st, 20th, and 22nd. She improved to 18th in qualifying for the next round, but weather and contact marred her results in the races. Lloyd won the female trophy in three of the four races she finished. Lloyd later joined

JHR Developments JHR Developments is a British motorsport team, based in Dronfield, Derbyshire, United Kingdom. The team currently participates in the F4 British Championship and GB3 Championship. Notable past drivers for the team include Tom Ingram, Sennan ...

for a full programme in British F4. Her debut came at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

, where she finished 8th and 7th having notably overtaken the much more experienced

Abbi Pulling Abbi Jo Pulling (born 21 March 2003) is a British racing driver who is currently competing in the 2025 GB3 Championship for Rodin Motorsport. She is also the rookie and simulator driver for the Nismo, Nissan Formula E Team. Pulling is the 2024 F1 ...

. Lloyd's campaign took off in the fifth round at Silverstone, with three strong results including a maiden podium, where she followed teammate Leo Robinson through for a JHR 1–2. The pair repeated the feat at

Knockhill Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA-approved circui ...

, and Lloyd also returned to the rostrum at Donington, where she qualified a season-best 3rd in wet conditions, and

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

. Despite skipping the penultimate round, Lloyd finished 11th in the championship with 99 points. On the tail end of the 2024 season, Lloyd competed in the first two rounds of the

2024 Formula Trophy UAE The 2024 Formula Trophy UAE was the inaugural season of the Formula Trophy UAE, a motor racing series for the United Arab Emirates regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations, and organised and promoted by the Emirates Motorsport Organizatio ...

, where she picked up two best finishes of 17th.

2025

Lloyd returned to the British F4 in 2025, switching to

in a dual campaign with F1 Academy campaign.

F1 Academy

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, along with her British F4 commitments, Lloyd served as the wildcard entry for the fifth round of the all-female

series at

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Although mechanical issues limited her mileage in practice, Lloyd qualified eighth, a mere 0.111 off fourth place. She improved to 6th and 7th in the races, but a penalty for a false start demoted her to 9th in Race 1. For the 2025 season, it was announced that Lloyd would be entering the series under

with support from

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

, having joined the team's driver development programme. At the first round in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, Lloyd qualified eleventh. Though starting at the pitlane for race one, she managed to climb her way up to 6th place, and in race two she finished in 7th. In Round 2 at

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

, she won her first F1 Academy race in Race 1. In Round 4 at

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, she finished all three races in second place.

Formula E

In November 2024, Lloyd and McLaren's incumbent F1 Academy driver

Bianca Bustamante Bianca Denise Bustamante (born January 19, 2005) is a Filipino racing driver who competes in the GB3 Championship for Elite Motorsport. She is also the development driver for Kiro Race Co, Cupra Kiro. Junior career W Series From January 31 ...

joined the

McLaren Formula E Team McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

for the

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

women's test that took place at

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

in Madrid ahead of the 2024–25 season. Lloyd placed 7th overall at the test, a showing

Gary Paffett Gary James Paffett (born 24 March 1981 in Bromley) is a British former racing driver. Having become a household name in the DTM, following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 champ ...

described as "impressive". She is set to participate in her second test session on 14 July 2025 again for McLaren at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit in Berlin.

Personal life

Besides racing, Lloyd has also competed in skiing and

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

. Her father, Chris Lloyd, is a former

rally driver Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

and later competed in the 2018 Paralympics in

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

. Lloyd is managed by Greenlight Sports Management, an agency run by 2003

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

winner Guy Smith and fellow sportscar racer

Andy Meyrick Andrew James Meyrick (born 4 September 1985) is a British racing driver from Wales who currently competes in the 2024 European Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series for United Autosports. Racing career Single seaters Meyrick made his racing ...

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season still in progress.

Complete Ginetta Junior Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Winter Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete F4 British Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete F1 Academy results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Trophy UAE results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Ella 2005 births Living people F1 Academy drivers Welsh racing drivers 21st-century Welsh sportswomen British F4 Championship drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Sportspeople from Pontypridd British female racing drivers McLaren Racing drivers JHR Developments drivers Ginetta Junior Championship drivers Rodin Motorsport drivers Formula Winter Series drivers