Leonardo Fornaroli’s education in Formula 1 machinery is gathering pace — even if the path to a race seat at McLaren remains firmly blocked.
McLaren has confirmed the Italian completed a full day of TPC running at Silverstone earlier this week, adding another sizeable chunk of mileage in the 2023-spec MCL60. It’s his second outing in the car in quick succession, following a first F1 test in Barcelona last month, and it underlines how seriously the team is taking its reserve structure in 2026.
Fornaroli logged 68 laps at the British Grand Prix venue — 393 kilometres — on a programme McLaren described as an “evolution” of Barcelona: longer stints, low-fuel runs and work across hard and soft compounds. In other words, the kind of mixed brief that’s less about chasing a headline lap time and more about building a driver who can be dropped into a Friday session, a simulator correlation run, or — if it ever came to it — an unexpected race weekend with minimal hand-holding.
“Another good day on track – it was amazing to be back in the MCL60,” Fornaroli said. “Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits, so I’m grateful to McLaren for the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of an F1 car there.
“With it being my second test, the run plan was more advanced, so I got to try some different setups and run with different levels of fuel, which continues to support my understanding of driving a Formula 1 car.”
That last line is the key. TPC days aren’t glamorous, and they don’t grab the attention of a championship fight, but they’re where a modern reserve driver earns their stripes — especially in a season where teams are increasingly reliant on simulator correlation and precise feedback loops. McLaren has made it clear this won’t be a one-off: further tests at a range of circuits are planned for Fornaroli across the remainder of the 2026 campaign.
Fornaroli’s rise has been quick. He arrived in this role as the reigning Formula 2 champion, lifting the title in 2025 — the kind of CV that historically guarantees at least a serious look for a grand prix seat. Yet it’s also a reminder of how tight the grid remains at the front end. McLaren moved him into its junior set-up after that championship, then promoted him to reserve duties for 2026, sharing the role with Pato O’Ward.
That shared arrangement matters. It means Fornaroli isn’t just being asked to be “the young one in the garage”; he’s in a genuine working rotation with a driver who brings a different background and a different reference set. For a team, it’s useful. For a rookie trying to force his way into the conversation, it’s competitive.
Away from the track, Fornaroli has already been present in the operational rhythm of race weekends. He attended the Japanese Grand Prix as reserve driver and, according to McLaren, has been working closely with the engineers while logging extensive simulator time at the McLaren Technology Centre. That’s the less visible side of a reserve job — and usually the part teams value most.
The obvious caveat is that none of this changes the near-term reality. McLaren’s race seats are spoken for. Lando Norris is the reigning world champion and locked into a long-term deal that runs to at least the end of 2027, while Oscar Piastri signed a multi-year extension ahead of the 2025 season. There’s no politics to read into that; it’s simply a team that’s stable at the top of the driver market and has little incentive to disrupt it.
So where does that leave Fornaroli? In a position that’s simultaneously strong and frustrating. Strong, because McLaren is investing real track time in him — not just a token lap count and a handshake. Frustrating, because the door he’s knocking on isn’t likely to open soon unless circumstances change.
McLaren has, however, shown it won’t necessarily hoard talent for the sake of it. In recent years it has been prepared to release drivers to take opportunities elsewhere — a pragmatic approach that reflects how limited the team’s own upward mobility can be when its line-up is settled.
That’s why these TPC runs are worth paying attention to. They’re not a promise. But they are McLaren putting Fornaroli in a position where, if an opportunity emerges — whether inside its wider orbit or beyond it — he’s got credible, current-ish F1 mileage and a growing bank of technical understanding to point to.
“I continued to make improvements from my test a few weeks ago, getting even more comfortable with these machines,” Fornaroli added. “I look forward to continuing to test this year, something that is very important as part of my role as McLaren Mastercard Reserve Driver and for my development within the DDP programme.”
In a year where the spotlight naturally falls on Norris, Piastri and the fight at the front, Fornaroli’s Silverstone day is a quieter signal from Woking: the present might be secure, but they’re still building options for whatever comes next.
