Richard Verschoor Joins McLaren After Final F2 Season
Dutch racing driver Richard Verschoor has landed a spot in McLaren’s driver development program after wrapping up his Formula 2 career, which ended on a high note with his best championship finish.
“I think my career has gone a bit different than maybe how you’d hope it to go at the start. Of course, it was not my intention at the start, to stay in F2 for so long,” Verschoor admitted.
The 24-year-old’s journey through motorsport hasn’t been smooth sailing. Financial troubles repeatedly threatened to derail his career before it could truly take off.
His F2 experience was particularly rocky in the early years.
“A good example is straight away the first season, where I wanted to do F2 but after 16 races, I got kicked out because the budget was gone,” he explained.
Money problems continued to hang over him like a dark cloud.
“From there, that’s how my F2 career went. Every race, for the first 2-3 years, I didn’t know if I would make the next one, or what would happen if I picked up any damage. It was not a very nice way to drive.”
Despite these challenges, Verschoor managed to achieve something remarkable – scoring at least one victory in each of his five F2 seasons.
His final year in 2025 proved to be his best, finishing third overall with four wins between Feature and Sprint races.
Still, Verschoor doesn’t sugar-coat his F2 career outcomes. “The main focus was to win the championship, and we didn’t manage it, so I wouldn’t say I’ve exceeded any expectations. You want to win and we did fight for it, that was the goal.”
He does feel some satisfaction about his final season, though.
“I’m proud that this year I could show my true potential, because I feel like the last 2-3 years, I couldn’t, for different reasons.”
## The McLaren Connection
Verschoor’s move to McLaren came after a bold personal initiative that shows his determination.
“After Jeddah, I decided to walk to Zak {Brown}, and that’s when things kickstarted,” he revealed, referring to McLaren’s CEO. “I’m not sure if that helped in the end, I think it did, because at that time we didn’t get to a point where we could work together.”
The conversation wasn’t immediately fruitful but planted seeds that grew later in the season.
“Around Baku, is when the contact was there again, and from there we started speaking. They said that they would like to consider me as their driver.”
The deal wasn’t finalized until late in the season, leaving Verschoor in suspense.
“To be honest it was quite late that I signed the contract. It was a nerve-wracking few months, but very happy of course.”
Now Verschoor looks ahead to developing his skills within the prestigious McLaren organization, opening a new chapter in his racing career after his hard-fought journey through Formula 2.
