McLaren have completed their Formula E line-up for next season, signing rookie Jake Hughes to partner Rene Rast.
Like many of the personnel working on McLaren’s new FE entry, Hughes was part of the Mercedes team, which McLaren took over for 2023. He was development driver for the team, and reserve driver for its powertrain customer Venturi, and had been working hard on being promoted to a race seat despite Mercedes’ departure from the championship.His signing means the grid for 2023, the first season of FE’s ‘Gen3′ era, is now complete. It leaves series stalwart Oliver Turvey without a race seat as he had been the main contender for the McLaren vacancy after losing his long-held spot at NIO.
“First and foremost, I’m very proud and feel very privileged to become part of the McLaren Racing family, being given the chance to represent such a prestigious brand,” said Hughes.
“Growing up, McLaren was one of the teams that inspired me to start racing. To now go full circle, representing the team myself in FE feels incredible. I’ve been with the FE team in a different guise before and we have already achieved great results. It’s good to have that relationship and I know what’s expected of me.
“Coming in at a time where a new generation car is introduced in the series excites me. It feels like a good opportunity and chance, especially being a rookie in season nine. It’s set to be a great year and I can’t wait to kick off the journey ahead.”
Hughes’ junior single-seater career began with victory in the BRDC British Formula 4 championship in 2013. He then spent two years in Formula Renault 2.0 in Europe, before five years at the Formula 3 level during which time he won races in three different championships and also went on an unbeaten run in the inaugural Formula Regional Asian Championship season.
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He won four races from two years spent in Formula Renault 2.0, then moved up to the tertiary tier of single-seaters in 2016 by competing in GP3 and Formula 3.
His performances earned him several Formula 2 race opportunities before Van Amersfoort Racing signed him to front their entry into the championship this year. They quickly picked up a podium together, although it was later lost to a technical infringement, and Hughes then left during the second half of the season so he could focus on landing an FE seat.
“Jake is an exciting talent, who we have worked with before as our reserve and development driver,” said McLaren’s FE team principal Ian James.
“Over the years, the team and Jake have built a relationship, and that, combined with his sheer talent, will be what can give us an edge going into this season.
“We’ve given Jake a chance to prove himself on the big stage in season nine, and his story is a perfect example of the talent development that we believe in as a team.”
The official pre-season test for the upcoming season is at Valencia’s permanent Ricardo Tormo track on 13th-16th December, and the opening race of the season is in Mexico City on 14th January, 2023.
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2023 Formula E driver line-up
| Team | Driver |
|---|---|
| Abt | Robin Frijns |
| Abt | Nico Muller |
| Andretti | Jake Dennis |
| Andretti | Andre Lotterer |
| DS Penske | Stoffel Vandoorne |
| DS Penske | Jean-Eric Vergne |
| Envision | Nick Cassidy |
| Envision | Sebastien Buemi |
| Jaguar | Mitch Evans |
| Jaguar | Sam Bird |
| Mahindra | Oliver Rowland |
| Mahindra | Lucas di Grassi |
| Maserati | Edoardo Mortara |
| Maserati | Maximilian Guenther |
| McLaren | Rene Rast |
| McLaren | Jake Hughes |
| NIO | Sergio Sette Camara |
| NIO | Dan Ticktum |
| Nissan | Norman Nato |
| Nissan | Sacha Fenestraz |
| Porsche | Antonio Felix da Costa |
| Porsche | Pascal Wehrlein |
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AndrewT (@andrewt)
1st December 2022, 17:52
I hoped McLaren would throw a lifeline to its very own and long serving Oliver Turvey now that they have their own team. They could have used his vast experience, he was one of only 6 drivers still on the grid racing through all 8 seasons.