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.
In junior formulae, Stevens reached the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, where he placed fourth in 2013. He made his Formula One debut with Caterham at the season finale at Abu Dhabi, before driving a full season for Marussia in . Stevens then entered sports car racing, and spent three seasons in the Blancpain GT Series in a Team WRT Audi.
In the FIA World Endurance Championship, Stevens took class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in GTE Am and LMP2, as well as the LMP2 title in 2022. He has competed in Hypercar since 2023, driving for Jota in a privateer Porsche and later 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 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)
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 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
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles FLaps Podiums Points Position 2008 Formula Junior FR2.0 Portugal Winter Series Fortec Motorsport 4 0 0 1 1 15 8th Formula Renault UK Winter Series 4 0 0 0 0 54 8th 2008–09 Toyota Racing Series Giles Motorsport 9 0 1 0 5 491 9th 2009 Formula Renault UK Fortec Motorsport 20 0 0 0 1 247 7th Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 4 0 0 0 0 0 34th 2010 Formula Renault UK Manor Competition 20 1 1 0 7 397 4th Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2 0 0 0 1 N/A NC† Formula Renault 2.0 NEC MP Motorsport 3 1 1 0 1 58 17th 2011 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Fortec Motorsport 14 1 3 0 4 116 4th Formula Renault UK 4 0 1 0 2 76 14th 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Carlin 17 0 0 0 1 59 12th 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Series P1 by Strakka Racing 17 0 0 2 5 148 4th Formula One Caterham F1 Team Test driver 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Strakka Racing 17 2 1 0 4 122 6th Formula One Caterham F1 Team 1 0 0 0 0 0 23rd 2015 Formula One Manor Marussia F1 Team 19 0 0 0 0 0 21st 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Manor 2 0 0 0 0 92 7th G-Drive Racing 3 2 2 0 3 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 1 0 1 N/A 2nd Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 8 0 0 0 3 39 9th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 5 0 0 0 0 19 18th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 1 0 0 0 1 18 19th Intercontinental GT Challenge Audi Sport Team WRT 1 0 0 0 0 4 16th 2017 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 9 1 0 0 4 74 2nd Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC Blancpain GT Series Asia 2 0 0 0 0 4 30th European Le Mans Series - LMGTE JMW Motorsport 2 0 0 0 2 36 10th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st Pirelli World Challenge Absolute Racing 2 0 0 0 0 7 65th SprintX GT Championship Series 2 0 0 0 0 7 45th 2018 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 10 1 2 2 4 63.5 4th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Panis Barthez Competition 6 0 1 0 2 45.5 9th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th Formula One McLaren F1 TeamDevelopment driver 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Jackie Chan DC Racing 2 1 0 0 1 40 11th 2019 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Panis Barthez Competition 6 0 0 0 0 19.5 18th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 8th Formula One McLaren F1 TeamDevelopment driver 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Jackie Chan DC Racing 8 1 1 0 5 136 5th 2020 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Panis Racing 5 0 0 0 1 47 4th Formula One McLaren F1 TeamTest/Development driver 2021 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Panis Racing 6 1 0 0 3 74.5 3rd Formula One McLaren F1 TeamTest/Development driver 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Jota 6 1 1 1 5 137 1st 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP211001N/A 1st IMSA SportsCar Championship - DPi Konica Minolta Acura 2 0 1 0 1 66514th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 Tower Motorsport 1 0 0 1 0 306 18th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Racing Team Turkey 1 0 0 0 0 8 20th Formula One McLaren F1 TeamTest/Development driver 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Hertz Team Jota 5 0 0 0 0 38 9th FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 1 1 0 0 1 0 NC† 24 Hours of Le Mans - Hypercar10000N/A13th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 Tower Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 260 28th Formula One McLaren F1 TeamTest/Development driver 2023–24 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 Nielsen Racing 1 0 0 0 0 2 17th2024 FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Hertz Team Jota 8 1 0 0 2 70 7th 24 Hours of Le Mans - Hypercar10000N/A8th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Nielsen Racing 6 0 0 0 0 1 21st Formula One McLaren F1 TeamTest/Development driver 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship – Hypercar Cadillac Hertz Team Jota 8 1 3 2 1 93 4th 24 Hours of Le Mans - Hypercar10100N/A5th IMSA SportsCar Championship – GTP Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing 3 0 0 0 0 820 21st Formula One McLaren F1 TeamTest/Development driver 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Cadillac Hertz Team Jota 6 0 1 0 1 50 10th* IMSA SportsCar Championship – GTP Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing 3 0 0 0 0 756 22nd Formula One McLaren Mastercard F1 Team Test/Simulator driver † 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) YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021PosPoints 2009 Fortec MotorsportBRI1BRI2THR1THR2DON1DON2OUL1OUL2CRO1CRO2SIL11SIL12SNE1SNE2SIL21SIL22ROC1ROC2BHGP1BHGP2 7th 2010 Manor CompetitionTHR1THR2ROC1ROC2BHGP1BHGP2OUL1OUL2CRO1CRO2SNE1SNE2SIL11SIL12SIL13KNO1KNO2SIL21SIL22BRI1BRI2 4th 2011 Fortec MotorsportsBRI1BRI2DON1DON2THR1THR2OUL1OUL2CRO1CRO2SNE1SNE2SIL11SIL12ROC1ROC2BHGP1BHGP2SIL21SIL22 14th 76