Building Experience in McLaren's Fold

Leonardo Fornaroli has been building his F1 experience as a McLaren test and reserve driver in 2026, and the young Italian is edging closer to his F1 dream with every session.

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.