Zak Brown Backs McLaren Reserve Leonardo Fornaroli for F1 Seat

Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, has thrown his support behind Leonardo Fornaroli, his team's reserve driver, suggesting that the young Italian is "definitely worthy of being in F1." This endorsement comes after Fornaroli's commendable FP1 debut, where he stepped in for Lando Norris at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, completing 22 laps and securing a respectable fifth place on the timesheets.

Fornaroli joined McLaren's Driver Development Programme after clinching the Formula 2 championship last year. Since then, he's been sharing reserve duties with Pato O'Ward for the 2026 season. Recently, Fornaroli also tested Haas's 2025 car, the VF-25, at the Jerez Circuit, alongside Haas reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa. This opportunity was part of Haas's initiative to evaluate and develop emerging talent.

When asked about Fornaroli's chances of joining Kimi Antonelli as one of the Italian representatives on the F1 grid, Brown was optimistic. "Yeah, I think there are," he remarked. "He's a great talent. He’s been doing some testing with us, and so hopefully he’ll secure an F1 seat."

The McLaren team is currently content with their primary drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both of whom are under multi-year contracts. Despite recent rumors that Max Verstappen's management explored potential opportunities with McLaren, Brown seemed unfazed. "They're rumours," he quipped, adding with a touch of humor about a recent dinner with Nigel Mansell, "I usually don’t talk about my dinners, but last night I had dinner with Nigel Mansell, which was really cool. He’s won this race a bunch."

Brown wrapped up by reaffirming his satisfaction with the current driver lineup. "I’m very happy with my two racing drivers, Lando and Oscar. I think anytime a name like Max is thrown around, people get pretty excited – a four-time World Champion – but I'm very happy with our driver line-up."

With strong backing from McLaren and a track record of impressive performances, Fornaroli's future in F1 seems promising. It's now a matter of time, opportunity, and perhaps a little luck to see if he can secure a coveted seat in the sport.