EXCLUSIVE: Fornaroli on testing with McLaren, the ‘different world’ of F1 and pushing for a full-time seat

Leonardo Fornaroli has reflected on a busy and “very helpful” eight months as part of McLaren’s Driver Development Programme, with the young Italian “trying to learn as much as possible” while edging closer to his F1 dream.

Fornaroli joined McLaren’s set-up last December, having claimed back-to-back titles in F3 and F2 across the 2024 and 2025 seasons – following in the footsteps of current F1 drivers Charles Leclerc (under the GP3 name), George Russell (GP3), Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Bortoleto.

He went on to drive an F1 car for the first time in March, during a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) session in Barcelona, before McLaren gave the 21-year-old his Free Practice 1 debut at the same venue in June, where he wound up an impressive fifth-fastest.

Fornaroli then conducted further TPC running with Haas at Jerez, and made his second FP1 appearance with McLaren in Hungary last time out, alongside growing trackside responsibilities that include him acting as a reserve driver for the Woking-based squad.

Speaking to F1.com ahead of F1’s summer break, Fornaroli took a moment to review his McLaren journey so far, and how he has grown on and off the track with every milestone moment.

“A lot going on,” Fornaroli summed up with a smile. “We’ve done a lot of sim sessions to prepare every TPC and FP1, and we did some Friday support work [around F1 weekends] as well, which I found very helpful for my development.

“Then, of course, all the TPC we’ve done, good steps have been made through every session, and my first FP1 in Barcelona, which was a very nice experience. I didn’t have a lot of laps to push, but the goal was to help the team, providing them with good data for the aerodynamics.

“I want to say a big thanks to McLaren, and everyone who is working in the Driver Development Programme, for their support. Everyone is very professional in the team, they love their job, and they’re trying to make me enjoy all the processes and all the work.”

Talking of processes and work, representing an F1 organisation has brought with it another step in responsibility and duties for Fornaroli, who is used to operating in smaller environments through F2, F3 and other junior categories before those.

“It’s a different world,” added Fornaroli, who provides back-up to full-time racers Piastri and Lando Norris. “It’s the beginning of, how to say… it’s where you start to be a professional racing driver.

“There are a lot of people who work [in an F1 team] compared to F2 and F3, and a lot more work, [which is] very intense, but I’m enjoying it.

“It’s also what I’m used to doing. All the categories [before F1] are [still at] a very high level, so they taught me how to work in this environment and how to cope with people, and driving is what I like to do, so it makes it natural, or almost natural!”

Asked about his plan for the second half of 2026, and getting as much track and paddock time as possible, he nodded: “More TPC and FP1s coming, more hours in the simulator, more Friday support, and more work with Lando and Oscar, trying to learn as much as possible.”

Given his back-to-back F3 and F2 titles, and those encouraging early displays with McLaren, Fornaroli’s name is understandably being linked to a potential F1 promotion in 2027 – fuelled even more by that separate run out with Haas.

At last month’s British Grand Prix, McLaren CEO Zak Brown was asked whether he thinks there are “real possibilities” for Fornaroli to join Kimi Antonelli as the second Italian driver on the grid.

“Yeah, I think there are,” Brown responded. “He’s a great talent. He’s been doing some testing with us, and hopefully he’ll secure an F1 seat. I think he’s definitely worthy of being in F1.”

So, without going into the specifics of where an opportunity might materialise, does Fornaroli himself now view stepping up to F1 as a realistic goal?

“Absolutely,” he replied. “We’re working on it, trying to make it happen. I’m focused now on the present and doing my job. There’s still some work to do, but I think we’re in a good place.”

In terms of what he has achieved already, and referencing the support of his family, Fornaroli added: “The journey has been very long, very tough sometimes. We’re still not there, but after my first F1 test, my first FP1, and all the work that we’ve done, we’re all very happy and satisfied.”

Fornaroli is due to be back at work for McLaren when the F1 campaign resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix on the weekend of August 21-23.