For Leonardo Fornaroli, life at McLaren has moved at breakneck speed since he joined team papaya’s driver development programme last December – and the highly rated Italian insists every simulator session, test run and Friday appearance is accelerating his growth both as a driver and as a professional.
Fornaroli arrived carrying considerable momentum after winning back-to-back Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in 2024 and 2025, placing him in elite company alongside Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Since then, the 21-year-old has ticked off several milestones in rapid succession: his first Formula 1 test in Barcelona, an impressive FP1 debut at the same circuit where he finished fifth-fastest, further Testing of Previous Cars running at Jerez, and a second FP1 outing in Hungary.
The schedule has been relentless, but Fornaroli speaks about it with unmistakable enthusiasm.
A whirlwind eight months in papaya
“A lot going on,” Fornaroli said with a smile, speaking to the official F1 website.
“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.”
The young Italian believes the constant preparation has been as valuable as the driving itself.
“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,” he added.
That willingness to focus on data rather than lap times has not gone unnoticed inside McLaren. Fornaroli repeatedly returned to the people around him when reflecting on his first months with the team.
“I want to say a big thanks to McLaren, and everyone who is working in the Driver Development Programme, for their support,” he said.
“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.”
Discovering Formula 1’s hidden world
Perhaps the biggest revelation for Fornaroli has been how different Formula 1 feels compared with the junior categories he has conquered.
“It’s a different world,” he admitted. “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.”
Yet the Italian insists his junior career prepared him well for the transition.
“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!,” he said.
That balance between humility and confidence is one reason McLaren rates him so highly.
As reserve driver, he now works closely with race drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, absorbing as much information as possible. He knows what’s coming in the back half of the2026 F1 season.
“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.”
Brown sees a genuine F1 future
Fornaroli’s rapid rise has inevitably fuelled speculation about a full-time Formula 1 seat in 2027. McLaren CEO Zak Brown has done little to cool the excitement.
“Yeah, I think there are,” Brown said when asked about Fornaroli’s prospects of joining Kimi Antonelli as a second Italian on the grid.
“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.”
Fornaroli is careful not to get carried away, but he no longer treats Formula 1 as a distant fantasy.
“Absolutely,” he replied when asked whether a promotion feels realistic. “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.”
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For a driver who has already climbed two major junior-category mountains, that sounds less like wishful thinking and more like a measured next step.
He has not forgotten the sacrifices that made the journey possible.
“The journey has been very long, very tough sometimes,” he conceded. “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.”
McLaren may be giving Fornaroli track time, simulator hours and a front-row seat to modern Formula 1, but perhaps its greatest gift is something less tangible: a glimpse of the professional world he has spent years chasing.
Judging by his first eight months in papaya, the Italian is making sure he wastes none of it.
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