Jake Hughes

Jake John Hughes (born 30 May 1994) is a British racing driver who is set to compete in the European Le Mans Series for Algarve Pro Racing. He also serves as the simulator driver for McLaren in Formula One and the reserve driver for Mahindra Racing in Formula E.

Hughes previously competed in Formula E from 2023 to 2025 with McLaren and Maserati. He is the winner of the inaugural BRDC Formula 4 Championship and has won multiple races at Formula 3.

Early racing career

Karting Hughes started his racing career in karting in 2010 at the age of sixteen, finishing eleventh in the Junior Class of the Easykart UK Championship. In 2011, he finished fifth in the Super 1 National Formula KGP Championship. He stayed in the same championship for 2012, improving to fourth in the series standings, whilst also winning the Easykart UK Championship in the Light category.

Local championships Hughes made his single-seaters debut in 2012 at Silverstone in the Formula Renault BARC Championship with Antel Motorsport and contested in the Rockingham round of the Formula Renault BARC Winter Series.

For 2013, Hughes decided to move in the newly created BRDC Formula 4 Championship, joining Lanan Racing to partner Daniel Headlam. He took four wins with another six podiums to clinch the championship title, beating Seb Morris by 35 points.

As a reward for his title, Hughes tested a Dallara F308 for Carlin at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, which he called "one of the best experiences in [his] life".

Formula Renault

Hughes returned in the Formula Renault machinery with Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup switch in 2014. He had only one podium, finishing third at Silverstone on his route to the eighth in the series standings. Also in 2014, he had part-time campaigns in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps.

For 2015, Hughes signed with Koiranen GP to contest full-time both in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps. He was victorious only in the second race at Spa and had another four podiums, finishing sixth in the championship. Though in the Alps championship he was more successful, winning races at Spa, Monza and Misano and taking the lead of the championship before the final round. However, due to two finishes outside of the podium places in that final event Hughes lost out on the title to Jack Aitken by just five points. In a podcast with Dan Ticktum six years later, Hughes revealed that he had competed in the final round with a cracked chassis, which had cost him performance throughout the weekend.

GP3 Series Hughes graduated to the GP3 Series in 2016, joining newcomers DAMS. He earned his first GP3 victory in the sprint race at Hockenheim. At the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi, Hughes experienced a technical failure in qualifying and was forced to start from the pitlane in the feature race. Having climbed up to seventh by the end of race 1, the Brit won the second race of the weekend, which he later described as "one of [his] best [race] weekends".

Hughes returned to the GP3 Series for 2018, after a one-year absence which he spent in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. He raced for ART Grand Prix alongside Nikita Mazepin and his friends Callum Ilott and Anthoine Hubert. He claimed his first and only win of the year in the second race at the Red Bull Ring and ended up eighth in the standings, whilst his teammates locked out the first three positions in the standings.

Formula 3 FIA F3 European Championship For 2017, Hughes made the switch from the GP3 Series to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, having competed in the final round of the 2016 season. He contested the season with the Hitech GP team. He claimed his first and only win at the second race in Nürburgring and finished the season 5th in the driver's championship.

FIA Formula 3 Championship 2019 Hughes driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2019 Spielberg Formula 3 round. Hughes continued in the third tier of single-seater racing, as the GP3 Series rebranded to become the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Hughes joined the new HWA Racelab outfit alongside Keyvan Andres and Bent Viscaal. Hughes claimed his only win of the year in a fortuitous sprint race at the Red Bull Ring, as race leaders Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong collided on the final lap. Shwartzman crossed the line first, but was given a penalty for causing the collision, handing the win to Hughes. Hughes claimed a double podium finish at the Hungaroring, finishing both races in third place. Hughes scored 90 of his team's 100 points over the season, placing him seventh in the drivers' championship.

2020 Hughes was retained by HWA Racelab for the 2020 season and was joined by Ferrari junior Enzo Fittipaldi and Red Bull junior Jack Doohan. Hughes experienced a poor start to the season, collecting only half a point from the first six races. He was on course for a top-two finish in the sprint race at the second Red Bull Ring round, but collided with Liam Lawson and suffered race-ending damage. He took his first podium of the year in the feature race at the second Silverstone round, followed by his first Formula 3 feature race victory in Barcelona the following week. Hughes claimed his second win of the year at the Monza sprint race. He ended the season seventh in the championship for a second consecutive year, scoring 111.5 of his team's 138.5 points.

2021 Shortly prior to the final round of the 2020 championship, Hughes announced that he would leave the series at the end of the year, having spent five years racing at Formula 3 level. However, in 2021, Hughes returned to the championship at the fourth round at the Hungaroring as a substitute driver, replacing the injured Kaylen Frederick at Carlin Buzz Racing. He finished the races in 16th, 17th and 13th respectively.

At the end of the year, Hughes tested a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for Team HRT, driving alongside Lirim Zendeli, David Beckmann and David Schumacher at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

FIA Formula 2 Championship 2020 & 2021: Partial campaigns On 22 September 2020, it was announced that Hughes would step up to Formula 2, replacing Giuliano Alesi at the BWT HWA Racelab team for the tenth round at the Sochi Autodrom. Hughes finished 12th on his feature race debut, but was eliminated from the sprint race after a first-lap collision with Guilherme Samaia. Hughes was replaced by former FIA Formula 3 competitor Théo Pourchaire for the final two rounds in Bahrain.

Before the fifth round of the 2021 season, held at Monza, Hughes was confirmed to once again be stepping in at HWA, this time due to an injury sustained by regular driver Jack Aitken at the 24 Hours of Spa. In the first race, which was plagued by retirements from numerous other drivers, Hughes managed to finish twelfth, having started from the pit lane after stalling on the formation lap. He had to retire from the second race after a collision with his teammate Alessio Deledda. In the third race of the weekend, Hughes finished 13th. The following round at Sochi, Hughes went on to score his first points in Formula 2, finishing fourth in the sprint race. This also gave HWA their best ever race finish in the series to date.

2022 Hughes driving the Dallara F2 2018 during the 2022 Spielberg Formula 2 round. After testing with new team Van Amersfoort Racing at the post-season test at Yas Marina, Hughes signed up with the team for the 2022 Formula 2 season, partnering Belgian Amaury Cordeel. Having started his season off with points at Bahrain, Hughes finished third in the Jeddah sprint race but was later disqualified for a technical infringement. Despite this disappointment, he would bounce back the following day, taking fourth place in the feature race. However, the following three rounds formed a points scoring drought, which was compounded by a crash during qualifying in Monaco and a subsequent stall at the start of the sprint race, which he began from pole. He returned to the top-ten in Baku, scoring a point on Sunday, before another tenth place at his home track of Silverstone. One week later in Austria, Hughes took a fifth place in a chaotic feature race, which would end up being his final points of the season, as Hughes would miss the French and Hungarian rounds after testing positive for COVID-19, being replaced by David Beckmann. Due to growing Formula E commitments, Hughes left VAR fully before the round at Spa-Francorchamps. He ended up 16th in the standings, outscoring teammate Cordeel, who had competed throughout the entire season.

Formula E Hughes made his first Formula E appearance during the 2019 rookie test in Marrakech, where he partnered Jamie Chadwick at Nio Formula E Team. The following year, he would once again appear in the rookie test at the same circuit, this time driving for Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team alongside Daniel Juncadella.

On 25 February 2021, it was announced that Hughes would be the reserve driver for Venturi Racing in the 2020–21 Formula E World Championship. After deputising for Gary Paffett at Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team in the last rounds of the season, he was signed as the team's full-time reserve and development driver for the 2021–22 season.

McLaren (2023–2024) 2022–23 season

After it was announced that Mercedes-EQ would be taken over by the McLaren Formula E Team, Hughes left Formula 2 in pursuit of taking one of the seats for the upcoming season. In November 2022, he joined McLaren for the 2022–23 season, partnering René Rast. The season started out strongly in Mexico City, as Hughes progressed to the semi-final stage in qualifying, ending up third on the grid before finishing the race in fifth place, having been overtaken by André Lotterer on the final lap. Following the conclusion to the race, Hughes branded the ePrix as the "hardest race [he'd] ever done". At the first round of the Diriyah ePrix, Hughes qualified at second place (missing out on pole position by 0.060s) but finished the race in eighth. More qualifying success followed in the second round, as Hughes took his first pole position in the series, beating Mitch Evans in the final. He ended the race in fifth position, having lost the lead to Evans at the start. At the Hyderabad ePrix, Hughes suffered his first retirement of the season as a piece of debris got lodged in his steering wheel, prompting him to withdraw.

A pair of tenth and eighth places followed at Cape Town and São Paulo, before having a disastrous at the Berlin ePrix in which he failed to score points. Hughes scored his second pole position at the Monaco ePrix after being promoted from second due to Nissan's Sacha Fenestraz being stripped of his pole position for exceeding his power limit in his final run. He finished the race in fifth. However, Hughes would only take two more tenth places throughout the rest of the season as the McLaren grew uncompetitive, and did not start the first race in Rome after a qualifying shunt. He placed 12th in the standings with 48 points, eight ahead of teammate Rast.

Indoor speed world record During the London ePrix weekend, Hughes set a new Guinness World Records for indoor speed by hitting 218.71kmh/135.9 mph inside London's ExCeL Centre in a modified version of the Formula E Gen3 race car called the GENBETA. The previous record for fastest speed achieved by a vehicle indoors was 165.20kmh/102.65 mph set by American driver Leh Keen in a Porsche Taycan Turbo S at the New Orleans Convention Centre in 2021.

2023–24 season

Hughes extended his stay with McLaren for the 2023–24 season and teamed with Sam Bird after René Rast's departure. He started the season positively with a seventh place at the Mexico City ePrix. After narrowly missing points during the first race in Diriyah, he bounced back in the second, taking his career best finish of fourth and revealed that he was "buzzing" after the race.

At the end of July, McLaren announced that they did not retain Hughes for a third season and he departed the team.

Maserati MSG Racing (2024–2025) 2024–25 season

Just a few hours after his departure from McLaren, Maserati MSG Racing announced Hughes on a multi-year deal from the 2024–25 season, partnering 2021–22 champion Stoffel Vandoorne.

Mahindra reserve role (2026) Despite being in contention for a drive with Cupra Kiro following a private test a few weeks prior to the Valencia pre-season test, the team ultimately decided to pick Pepe Martí, leaving Hughes without a drive for the 2025–26 season. Nevertheless, he signed with Mahindra Racing to be their test and reserve driver for that season.

Other racing In June 2025, Hughes tested a Formula One car for the first time in Barcelona, where he underwent a test programme with McLaren driving the McLaren MCL60.

Personal life Hughes was born in Birmingham, England and is a supporter of Aston Villa FC.

Hughes was a co-host of the H.Y.M podcast, alongside BMW factory driver Nick Yelloly and Superbike racer Alex Murley, where the three interviewed notable motorsport personalities, such as Seb Morris, Sheldon van der Linde, Jordan King and Dan Ticktum.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary † As Hughes was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points. Season still in progress.

Complete BRDC Formula 4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2013 Lanan Racing SIL11 SIL12 SIL13 BRH11 BRH12 BRH13 SNE11 SNE12 SNE13 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 BRH21 BRH22 BRH23 SIL21 SIL22 SIL23 SNE21 SNE22 SNE23 DON1 DON2 DON3 1st 445

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points 2014 Mark Burdett Racing MNZ1 MNZ2 SIL1 SIL2 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 SPA1 SPA2 ASS1 ASS2 8th 152 ART Junior Team MST1 MST2 MST3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points 2014 Mark Burdett Racing ALC1 ALC2 SPA1 SPA2 SIL1 SIL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NC† 0 Strakka Racing HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 JER1 JER2 2015 Koiranen GP ALC1 ALC2 ALC3 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 NÜR1 NÜR2 LMS1 LMS2 JER1 JER2 JER3 6th 160 † As Hughes was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points 2014 Strakka Racing IMO1 IMO2 PAU1 PAU2 RBR1 RBR2 SPA1 SPA2 MNZ1 MNZ2 MUG1 MUG2 JER1 JER2 NC† 0 2015 Koiranen GP IMO1 IMO2 PAU1 PAU2 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 SPA1 SPA2 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 MIS1 MIS2 JER1 JER2 2nd 237

† As Hughes was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points

Complete GP3 Series/FIA Formula 3 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points 2016 DAMS CATFEA CATSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 8th 90 2018 ART Grand Prix CATFEA CATSPR LECFEA LECSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SOCFEA SOCSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 8th 85 2019 HWA Racelab CATFEA CATSPR LECFEA LECSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SOCFEA SOCSPR 7th 90 2020 HWA Racelab RBRFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SILFEA SILSPR SILFEA SILSPR CATFEA CATSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR MUGFEA MUGSPR 7th 111.5 2021 Carlin Buzz Racing CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 SOC1 SOC2 SOC3 27th 0 ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points 2016 Carlin Volkswagen LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 PAU1 PAU2 PAU3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 NOR1 NOR2 NOR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 16th 27 2017 Hitech GP Mercedes SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 PAU1 PAU2 PAU3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 NOR1 NOR2 NOR3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 5th 207

Complete Macau Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Quali Race Main race 2016 Carlin Dallara F312 6th 10th 6th 2018 Hitech GP Dallara F317 6th 5th 4th 2019 HWA Racelab Dallara F3 2019 6th DNF 17th

Complete F3 Asian Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Points 2018 Dragon HitechGP SEP11 SEP12 SEP13 NIS11 NIS12 NIS13 SIC1 SIC2 SIC3 NIS21 NIS22 NIS23 SEP21 SEP22 SEP23 2nd 225 2019–20Hitech Grand Prix SEP11 SEP12 SEP13 DUB1 DUB2 DUB3 ABU1 ABU2 ABU3 SEP21 SEP22 SEP23 CHA1 CHA2 CHA3 14th 24

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 NC Points BWT HWA Racelab RBRFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SILFEA SILSPR SILFEA SILSPR CATFEA CATSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR MUGFEA MUGSPR SOCFEA SOCSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 23rd 0 HWA Racelab BHRSP1 BHRSP2 BHRFEA MCOSP1 MCOSP2 MCOFEA BAKSP1 BAKSP2 BAKFEA SILSP1 SILSP2 SILFEA MNZSP1 MNZSP2 MNZFEA SOCSP1 SOCSP2 SOCFEA JEDSP1 JEDSP2 JEDFEA YMCSP1 YMCSP2 YMCFEA 18th 8 2022 Van Amersfoort Racing BHRSPR BHRFEA JEDSPR JEDFEA IMOSPR IMOFEA CATSPR CATFEA MCOSPR MCOFEA BAKSPR BAKFEA SILSPR SILFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA LECSPR LECFEA HUNSPR HUNFEA SPASPR SPAFEA ZANSPR ZANFEA MNZSPR MNZFEA YMCSPR YMCFEA 16th 26

Complete Formula E results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Season still in progress.

Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Algarve Pro Racing Michael Jensen Enzo Trulli Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 356 26th 12th LMP2 Pro-Am 4th