Tom Blomqvist joins McLaren driver development programme

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From McLaren

British Formula 1 team McLaren revealed that teenager Tom Blomqvist, son of 1984 World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist, has joined the select group of young talent on its Driver Development Programme.

Eighteen-year-old Blomqvist has made outstanding progress since graduating from karting in 2009.

In 2010 he became the youngest driver ever to win the Formula Renault UK Championship, a feat which earned him the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s Henry Surtees Award for the most outstanding performance by a young racer.

Carrying that race-winning form to the Formula 3 Cup for 2011, Blomqvist was shortlisted for the highly prized McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

As part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme , Blomqvist will benefit from a wealth of personalised guidance in the off-track skills demanded by his craft, as well as building on his racing performances as he climbs the motorsport ladder.

“As a winner of the Formula Renault Championship, he's following in the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton, who passed this career milestone just three years before graduating to Formula 1 with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes,” said Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal, McLaren.