Jake Hughes: From BRDC Formula 4 Champion to Formula E Speed Record Holder

Jake Hughes is a British racing driver who won the BRDC Formula 4 Championship, raced through Formula 3 and Formula 2, and spent several seasons in Formula E. His career also includes a Guinness World Record for indoor speed and a long association with McLaren in the simulator and test programmes. He is now set to race in the European Le Mans Series.

Who is Jake Hughes?

Hughes was born in Birmingham, England, on 30 May 1994 and supports Aston Villa. He has raced across single-seaters, Formula E and endurance events, and he works as McLaren's simulator driver in Formula One.

Away from the cockpit he co-hosted the H.Y.M podcast with the BMW factory driver Nick Yelloly and the Superbike racer Alex Murley. The show interviewed motorsport figures including Seb Morris, Sheldon van der Linde, Jordan King and Dan Ticktum.

From karting titles to an indoor speed record, Hughes has built a career that crosses single-seaters, Formula E and simulator work.

How did Jake Hughes start racing?

Hughes started karting in 2010 at the age of sixteen. His first season ended eleventh in the Junior Class of Easykart UK, and a year later he placed fifth in the Super 1 National Formula KGP Championship.

In 2012 he improved to fourth in the Super 1 National Formula KGP standings, and he also won the Easykart UK Championship in the Light category.

His single-seater debut came in 2012 at Silverstone, in the Formula Renault BARC Championship with Antel Motorsport. He also contested a round of the Formula Renault BARC Winter Series at Rockingham that season.

Which British title did Hughes win?

Hughes won the 2013 BRDC Formula 4 Championship with Lanan Racing, taking four wins and six further podiums. He finished 35 points clear of Seb Morris, and his teammate that year was Daniel Headlam.

The title came with a prize: a test of a Dallara F308 for Carlin at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. Hughes later said that day was one of the best experiences of his life.

How did Hughes perform in Formula Renault?

In 2014 Hughes returned to Formula Renault 2.0 and finished eighth in the Northern European Cup standings, with a single podium at Silverstone. He also drove part-time in the Eurocup and the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series that year.

In 2015 he joined Koiranen GP for full-time campaigns in both the Eurocup and the Alps series. The Eurocup was steadier than spectacular. He won only the second race at Spa and added four podiums, which left him sixth in the championship.

The Alps series was his best season in the category. He won races at Spa, Monza and Misano and took the lead of the championship before the final round. Two finishes outside the podium places in that last event cost him the title by five points to Jack Aitken.

Years later, on a podcast with Dan Ticktum, Hughes revealed that he had raced the final Alps round with a cracked chassis. The damage had cost him performance across the whole weekend.

How did Jake Hughes fare in GP3 and Formula 3?

Hughes moved into GP3 in 2016 with DAMS and took his first GP3 win in the sprint race at Hockenheim. He switched to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2017 with Hitech GP, won at the Nurburgring and finished fifth in the standings.

In 2018 he returned to GP3 with ART Grand Prix, finishing eighth with a single win in the second race at the Red Bull Ring. His teammates that year included Nikita Mazepin, Callum Ilott and Anthoine Hubert, and his teammates locked out the first three places in the standings.

The 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship was Hughes's third season in the third tier of single-seater racing. He drove for HWA Racelab and scored 90 of the team's 100 points. His only win came in a sprint race at the Red Bull Ring, after race leaders Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong collided on the final lap and Shwartzman was penalised for the incident.

The 2020 season was another seventh-place finish. Hughes collected only half a point from the first six races, but he later won the feature race at Barcelona and the sprint at Monza. He ended the year with 111.5 of the team's 138.5 points.

He had announced that 2020 would be his last season in the series, but in 2021 he returned as a substitute at Carlin Buzz Racing, replacing the injured Kaylen Frederick. He finished the races he contested in 16th, 17th and 13th places.

Did Hughes race in Formula 2?

Yes. He first raced in the category for BWT HWA Racelab in 2020, and he returned to the team as a substitute in 2021. In 2022 he drove the full season for Van Amersfoort Racing before leaving the team to focus on Formula E.

His 2020 debut came at Sochi, where he replaced Giuliano Alesi for the tenth round. He finished 12th in the feature race, but a first-lap collision with Guilherme Samaia ended his sprint race. Theo Pourchaire took over for the final two rounds in Bahrain.

In 2021 he stepped in again for HWA, this time for Jack Aitken, who had been injured at the 24 Hours of Spa. At Sochi later that season he scored his first Formula 2 points by finishing fourth in the sprint race. That result gave HWA its best race finish in the series to date.

His 2022 campaign with Van Amersfoort Racing, alongside Amaury Cordeel, was inconsistent. Hughes scored in Bahrain, took a third place in the Jeddah sprint that was later disqualified, and finished fourth in the Jeddah feature. He missed the French and Hungarian rounds after testing positive for Covid-19 and finished the year 16th in the standings.

What was Jake Hughes's role in Formula E?

Hughes began in Formula E as a rookie tester in 2019, driving for Nio Formula E Team in Marrakech. He then became a reserve driver for Venturi Racing and later Mercedes-EQ, before joining McLaren for the 2022-23 season alongside Rene Rast.

His first race for McLaren in Mexico City ended with fifth place, after he had qualified third. He called the ePrix the hardest race he had ever done. At the first Diriyah round he qualified second, missing pole by 0.060s, and in the second round he took his first series pole position, beating Mitch Evans in the final.

Hyderabad brought his first retirement of the season, when debris lodged in his steering wheel. Cape Town and Sao Paulo produced tenth and eighth places, but Berlin ended without a point. At the Monaco ePrix he took his second pole after Nissan's Sacha Fenestraz was stripped of his pole for exceeding the power limit.

The McLaren car lost competitiveness in the second half of the season. Hughes took only two more tenth places, and missed the start of the Rome race after a qualifying shunt. He finished 12th in the standings with 48 points, eight ahead of Rast.

What is the Formula E indoor speed record?

During the London ePrix weekend, Hughes set a Guinness World Record for indoor speed of 218.71km/h (135.9 mph) inside London's ExCeL Centre. The attempt used a modified Formula E Gen3 car named the GENBETA.

The record replaced a mark of 165.20km/h (102.65 mph), set by the American driver Leh Keen in a Porsche Taycan Turbo S in New Orleans, in 2021. Hughes's figure was a clear step beyond that earlier benchmark.

What happened to Jake Hughes after McLaren?

Hughes stayed with McLaren for 2023-24 and teamed up with Sam Bird after Rast left. His career-best result in Formula E came in that season, with a fourth place in the second race at Diriyah. He said afterwards that he was buzzing about the race.

McLaren announced at the end of July 2024 that it would not retain him for a third season. Maserati MSG Racing announced him on a multi-year deal just hours later, partnering Stoffel Vandoorne, the 2021-22 champion.

For 2025-26 he was in contention for a drive with Cupra Kiro after a private test, but the team chose Pepe Marti. Hughes then signed with Mahindra Racing as its test and reserve driver for that season.

Has Hughes driven a Formula One car?

Yes, in testing rather than in races. In June 2025 he tested a Formula One car for the first time in Barcelona, driving the McLaren MCL60 on a test programme with the team.

His role with McLaren is as simulator driver. Alongside it he holds the reserve post with Mahindra in Formula E and a programme in the European Le Mans Series with Algarve Pro Racing.

Jake Hughes career summary