Leonardo Fornaroli will drive McLaren's MCL40 during Friday practice sessions at both the Mexico City Grand Prix and the São Paulo Grand Prix, the team confirmed following his latest private test outing. The two FP1 runs mark his first competitive-weekend appearances since McLaren formalized his test role earlier this season.
Fornaroli completed a full day of testing at an undisclosed circuit in the MCL40 before the team committed to the Mexico and Brazil slots. The Italian driver, who finished second in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident, joined McLaren's development program in January after the team expanded its junior structure to mirror the depth Red Bull and Ferrari maintain. McLaren has not disclosed lap times or technical focus areas from the test day, but the immediate assignment of two consecutive race-weekend sessions suggests the run met internal benchmarks.
The timing matters because McLaren's driver contracts create decision pressure in 2026. Lando Norris is secured through 2027 on a deal signed last spring. Oscar Piastri's contract runs through 2026, with McLaren holding options beyond that. The team has not publicly addressed whether those options include matching rights if another constructor approaches Piastri, but his qualifying pace—0.087 seconds faster than Norris on average through the first half of 2025—makes him a known quantity for any team building around a technical regulation reset. Fornaroli's Mexico and Brazil runs put him in the McLaren cockpit during critical late-season development work, when teams begin validating 2026 concepts under race conditions.
McLaren's FP1 strategy has shifted. The team ran zero rookie practice sessions in 2023, citing championship fight priorities. This year they have committed to four FP1 outings for development drivers, the minimum required under FIA regulations. Fornaroli will take two of those. The other two slots remain unannounced, though McLaren's IndyCar partnership with Arrow McLaren creates a secondary pipeline—Pato O'Ward drove FP1 sessions in 2022 and 2023 before McLaren paused his F1 exposure. The team has not confirmed whether O'Ward will return to the rotation, but his Arrow McLaren contract includes F1 test provisions that remain active.
The Mexico City session carries added weight. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez sits at 2,285 meters elevation, requiring unique power unit mapping and brake cooling solutions that don't translate to other circuits. Teams use the Friday morning hour to validate simulation tools in thin air, then hand the car back to race drivers for FP2 adjustments. Fornaroli's data set from that session will feed directly into McLaren's 2026 high-altitude testing program, when new power unit regulations require recalibrated turbocharger specs. São Paulo's Interlagos circuit, one week later, offers sprint weekend scheduling—practice runs are compressed, making the FP1 hour more valuable for drivers who need to build track-specific muscle memory.
Fornaroli's F3 résumé includes three wins and eleven podiums across the 2024 season, finishing behind only Luke Browning in the championship. His Trident team used the same Dallara chassis as the rest of the F3 grid, limiting his ability to differentiate through car development. McLaren's interest appears rooted in his qualifying consistency—he out-qualified his Trident teammate 73% of the time—and his wet-weather pace at Spa-Francorchamps, where he finished second in a rain-shortened sprint race.
McLaren has not disclosed Fornaroli's simulator workload at the team's Woking headquarters, but FP1 drivers typically log 20-30 hours of simulator time in the two weeks before a race weekend to synchronize with race driver setup preferences. The Mexico and Brazil sessions will use current-spec MCL40 cars, not modified development chassis, meaning Fornaroli's feedback will need to align with how Norris and Piastri describe handling traits. Teams that run disconnected FP1 programs—where the test driver's notes don't map to race driver language—tend to compress the rotation. McLaren giving Fornaroli consecutive weekends suggests his previous simulator work translated.
The FP1 appearances do not guarantee Fornaroli a reserve driver promotion or a 2026 race seat, but they establish his name in McLaren's internal succession documents. If Piastri's 2026 option negotiation stalls, or if another team makes a credible offer McLaren chooses not to match, Fornaroli's Mexico and Brazil data will be part of the evaluation file. The same logic applies if McLaren decides to place a driver at a customer team—something Zak Brown has discussed publicly as a possibility once McLaren's wind tunnel and factory capacity expand.
Watch for McLaren's announcement of the remaining two FP1 slots before the Las Vegas Grand Prix in late November. If O'Ward returns, it signals McLaren is maintaining the IndyCar-to-F1 pipeline as a live option. If another junior driver gets the call, it suggests the team is narrowing focus to its European ladder. Fornaroli's performance data from Mexico and Brazil will be available internally within 48 hours of each session, giving McLaren's driver development group a clear baseline before 2026 contract discussions begin in earnest.
The takeaway
Fornaroli's consecutive FP1 runs land him in McLaren's succession file before 2026 driver decisions crystallize around Piastri's contract options.
Editorial & Disclosure Notice: This article was written with artificial intelligence from public sources and is published without individual human review. Artificial intelligence and other digital tools are also used for research, analysis, editing, formatting, and production. Errors, omissions, outdated information, or inaccuracies may occur. References to companies, brands, products, services, organizations, or individuals are for informational and editorial purposes and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, partnership, or approval unless expressly stated. All trademarks and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective owners. Opinions, analysis, estimates, and commentary are informational only and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, tax, medical, procurement, or other professional advice. Information may be corrected, clarified, or updated after publication. Corrections or removal requests: jenny@pops4.com.
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