Will Stevens

William Jonathan Richard Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota. He competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Stevens has won two Hypercar races and an LMP2 title with Jota.

Stevens formerly competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, where he placed fourth in 2013. In Formula One, he made his debut at the season finale at Abu Dhabi with Caterham, before driving a full season for Marussia in . He then entered sports car racing, taking class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in GTE Am and LMP2, runner-up in the Blancpain GT Series, and an FIA World Endurance Championship title in LMP2. Since 2023, he has competed in Hypercar for Jota, first in a privateer Porsche and then in a factory Cadillac.

Early life and career

William Jonathan Richard Stevens was born on 28 June 1991 in Rochford, Essex, England.

Karting Stevens started his racing career in 2003 at the age of 12 in karts. After one year of racing in the National Cadet Championship, he joined Rotax Mini Max. He raced in a lot of different championships in Britain and outside, and after finishing seventh in the Rotax class in Super One, he joined Formula Renault 2.0.

Formula Renault 2.0 Stevens ended seventh in the 2009 Formula Renault 2.0 UK and fourth in 2010. In 2011, he switched to the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, where he finished fourth.

Formula Renault 3.5 Stevens during the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season at the Nürburgring. Stevens jumped to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2012 for Carlin, finishing 12th in his first year. In 2013, this time driving for P1 by Strakka Racing, he scored five podiums in 17 races and ended fourth in the season standings. In 2014, he joined Strakka Racing, where got two wins and four podiums to finish sixth in points.

Formula One

Marussia and Caterham (2014) In October 2014, Marussia F1 announced that Stevens had joined the team as a reserve driver for the remainder of the 2014 season. They had originally planned to run him in first practice session of the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix; however, they were unable to return the relevant paperwork to the FIA Contract Recognition Board in time.

The following month, Stevens made his Formula One debut with Caterham F1 at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, having previously tested for the team. He finished the race in 17th place, one lap down. He paid £500,000 for the privilege.

Marussia (2015)

In February 2015, Manor Marussia announced Stevens as one of their drivers whilst bringing substantial funding to the team, along with Roberto Merhi. Marussia attended the Australian Grand Prix but did not compete due to a technical issue. In the Malaysian Grand Prix, Stevens drove the Marussia car for the first time in Practice 1. However, he did not compete in qualifying or the race because of a problem with the fuel system. In the Chinese Grand Prix, Stevens finished his first race for Marussia in 15th place ahead of his teammate Merhi after being lapped twice by race winner Lewis Hamilton. Stevens finished ahead of Merhi in Bahrain and Spain. He finished behind Merhi in the Monaco Grand Prix in 16th. In the Canadian Grand Prix he qualified behind Merhi but moved up to 17th due to penalties to Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. In the race on lap 52, Romain Grosjean of Lotus was lapping Stevens but cut his left rear tyre while doing so, which caused both drivers to make an emergency pit stop. The mechanics of both Lotus and Marussia had little time to react to their drivers pitting so that meant both Grosjean and Stevens took long pit stops. Stevens complained to his team on the radio about the incident. Grosjean received a five-second penalty for the collision, but Stevens had dropped from being four seconds behind Merhi to a minute behind him. However, Merhi was forced to retire on lap 56 after a drive-shaft issue. Stevens eventually finished in 17th place, four laps down on race winner Lewis Hamilton. After the race, Grosjean apologised to Stevens for the incident. During the later races of the season, Merhi was replaced by Alexander Rossi who outpaced Stevens in three of four races.

WEC and Blancpain (2016) Will Stevens races in the 2017 Blancpain Endurance Series with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. In February 2016, Manor Motorsport, a team made by former Manor Racing employees John Booth and Graeme Lowdon, decided to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with Stevens and former Manor F3 driver Tor Graves. The following month, it was announced that Stevens would dovetail his WEC campaign with racing in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series for the W Racing Team, driving an Audi R8 LMS with René Rast.

Le Mans 24 Hours (2017) In May 2017, it was confirmed that Stevens would co-drive the JMW Ferrari 488 GTE-Am alongside two Le Mans 'rookies', nineteen-year-old Dries Vanthoor of Belgium and British driver Rob Smith. The team's Ferrari 488 was fresh out of the box, making its race debut, and was quickly on the pace; third-quickest in first free-practice. The team focused on fulfilling driver qualification requirements in First Qualifying (eighth in GTE-Am, 3:56.890), but pushed on in Second Qualifying, with Dries Vanthoor the first to better the old class lap record (3:54.543). Stevens then sliced half a second off this by posting a 3:53.981 to lay claim to provisional class pole. In third and final qualifying, the team completed race-preparation of the all-new car, and a succession of yellow flags prevented personal improvements for the JMW drivers. The car lined up sixth in GTE-Am for the race. Stevens drove the first stint, moving through to fourth in class. His co-drivers continued the advance, the team capturing third at 5:40 pm, and then second three hours into the race. Shortly after 10 pm, the No. 84 JMW Ferrari took the GTE-Am lead, and from there steadily built up an advantage that extended to over two laps at the finish. The car completed 333 laps and crossed the line 27th overall. Stevens set the fastest lap for the JMW Ferrari of 3:54.461.

ELMS and Blancpain (2017) Stevens at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the debut of Jota's Porsche 963. Stevens also in 2017 finished second in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup which included his first GT3 win at Zolder with team-mate Markus Winkelhock. Unfortunately he had a rather disappointing season in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup where his car retired in every race he competed in and he wasn't involved in the 24 hours of Spa the blue riband event of the Blancpain GT Series.After their victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans, JMW Motorsport invited Stevens to race in the last two races of the European Le Man Series in an attempt to come first in the GTE Series Team standings. This attempt was successful, as Stevens helped the team come second at Spa-Francorchamps and Algarve which elevated the team to first in the GTE standings.

ELMS (2018–present)

In March 2018, Stevens joined the Panis-Barthez LMP2 Team for the 2018 European Le Mans Series and to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

McLaren F1 (2018–present) Stevens has worked with McLaren since 2018 as a test and development driver, primarily carrying out simulator work. McLaren announced on 11 July 2022 that Stevens would drive the McLaren MCL35 2021 car at a private test to be held between 11 and 13 July at Portimao circuit.

Racing record

Career summary

† As Stevens was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault UK results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † As Stevens was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 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 17 Pos Points 2012 Carlin ALC1 ALC2 MON1 SPA1 SPA2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MSC1 MSC2 SIL1 SIL2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 CAT1 CAT2 12th 59 2013 P1 Motorsport MNZ1 MNZ2 ALC1 ALC2 MON1 SPA1 SPA2 MSC1 MSC2 RBR1 RBR2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 CAT1 CAT2 4th 148 2014 Strakka Racing MNZ1 MNZ2 ALC1 ALC2 MON1 SPA1 SPA2 MSC1 MSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 JER1 JER2 6th 122

Complete Formula One results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Points Caterham F1 Team Caterham CT05 Renault Energy F12014 1.6 V6 t AUS MAL BHR CHN ESP MON CAN AUT GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN RUS USA BRA ABU 23rd 0 Manor Marussia F1 Team Marussia MR03B Ferrari 059/3 1.6 V6 t AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN AUT GBR HUN† BEL ITA SIN JPN RUS USA MEX BRA ABU 21st 0 Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2016 G-Drive Racing René Rast Roman Rusinov Oreca 05-Nissan LMP2 357 6th 2nd 2017 JMW Motorsport Robert Smith Dries Vanthoor Ferrari 488 GTE GTEAm 333 26th 1st 2018 Panis Barthez Competition Julien Canal Timothé Buret Ligier JS P217-Gibson LMP2 352 13th 9th 2019 Panis Barthez Competition Julien Canal René Binder Ligier JS P217-Gibson LMP2 362 13th 8th 2020 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ho-Pin Tung Gabriel Aubry Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 141 DSQ DSQ 2021 Panis Racing James Allen Julien Canal Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 362 8th 3rd 2022 Jota Sport António Félix da Costa Roberto González Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 369 5th 1st 2023 Hertz Team Jota António Félix da Costa Yifei Ye Porsche 963 Hypercar 244 40th 13th 2024 Hertz Team Jota Callum Ilott Norman Nato Porsche 963 Hypercar 311 8th 8th 2025 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Alex Lynn Norman Nato Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar 387 4th 4th 2026 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Louis Delétraz Norman Nato Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar 381 4th 4th

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points 2016 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Pro MISQR MISCR BRHQR BRHCR NÜRQR NÜRCR HUNQR HUNCR CATQR CATCR 9th 39 2017 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Pro MISQR MISCR BRHQR BRHCR ZOLQR ZOLCR HUNQR HUNCR NÜRQR NÜRCR 2nd 74 2018 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Pro ZOL1 ZOL2 BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 HUN1 HUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 4th 63.5

Complete European Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2016 Team WRT LMP2 Ligier JS P2 Judd HK 3.6 L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC SPA EST 19th 18 2017 JMW Motorsport LMGTE Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 SIL MNZ RBR LEC SPA ALG 10th 36 2018 Panis Barthez Competition LMP2 Ligier JS P217 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC MNZ RBR SIL SPA ALG 9th 45.5 2019 Panis Barthez Competition LMP2 Ligier JS P217 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC MNZ CAT SIL SPA ALG 18th 19.5 2020 Panis Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC SPA LEC MNZ ALG 4th 47 2021 Panis Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT RBR LEC MNZ SPA ALG 3rd 74.5 2022 Racing Team Turkey LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC IMO MNZ CAT SPA ALG 20th 8 2024 Nielsen Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA MUG ALG 21st 1 ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) Season still in progress.