It is intended to offer year-by-year guidance, assistance and endorsement to help promising young racers climb the motorsport ladder.

As of 2025, nine programme drivers have graduated to Formula One, with four of those debuting directly with the McLaren F1 Team: Lewis Hamilton in 2007, Kevin Magnussen in 2014, Stoffel Vandoorne in 2016, and Lando Norris in 2019.

The programme notably signed Lewis Hamilton, Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Minassian as some of its first drivers.

[3] Later in October, the programme signed its first female driver in Bianca Bustamante, who represented McLaren in the 2024 season of F1 Academy.

Therefore, drivers who have had support in the past and entered Formula 1 through other means, such as Nick Heidfeld and Gabriel Bortoleto, are not included.