Motorsport | Formula 1

McLaren Car © Gallo Images

Rally champion's son joins McLaren

22 February 2012, 21:50

Tom Blomqvist, son of Sweden's 1984 world rally champion Stig, has joined McLaren's driver development programme, the Formula One team said on Wednesday.

British-born Blomqvist, an 18-year-old who races under a British licence, has had a promising career so far in the junior series.

Aged 16 he was the youngest driver to win the British Formula Renault championship, the same series that 2008 Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton won as a youngster, and last year competed in German F3.

"As a winner of the Formula Renault championship he's following in the footsteps of Lewis...who passed this career milestone just three years before graduating to Formula One," said team principal Martin Whitmarsh in a statement.

"We're therefore watching Tom's progress with great interest."

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