McLaren has confirmed that development and reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli will make his Formula 1 event debut this weekend, driving the MCL40 in Free Practice 1 at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in place of Lando Norris.
The 21-year-old Italian’s outing fulfills part of the 2026 regulations requiring each team to field a rookie driver in four FP1 sessions per season. It will mark Fornaroli’s first experience behind the wheel of contemporary Formula 1 machinery during an official race weekend.
“I’m very excited to drive the MCL40 this weekend in the Barcelona-Catalunya FP1 session,” Fornaroli said in a statement released by McLaren. “This is going to be a very important mission for me because it’s going to be my first official Formula 1 session. It’s something I’ve worked through for a long time, so very excited for it.”
Fornaroli joined the McLaren Driver Development Programme in December 2025, shortly after clinching the Formula 2 Championship. He had already secured the Formula 3 title the previous year, making him just the third driver to achieve back-to-back championships across the two feeder series. Oscar Piastri, now his teammate’s partner at McLaren, and McLaren development programme graduate Gabriel Bortoleto are the only other drivers to accomplish the feat.
Since joining the Woking-based squad, Fornaroli has undergone an extensive preparation programme that includes simulator work, trackside support duties and Testing of Previous Cars running. He has completed three TPC outings in the team’s 2023 challenger, the MCL60, with his debut test taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in March, followed by further sessions at Silverstone and the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
“All the experience I’ve gained through the previous TPC days so far were very important for my development, so a big thank you to Zak, Andrea, and Alessandro, and to all the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team,” Fornaroli added. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to help the team with their preparations and to work through the planned Friday programme.”
Beyond accumulating valuable mileage in the MCL40, Fornaroli will use the session to deepen his understanding of race weekend operations, providing engineering feedback aimed at optimizing car setup for Norris and Oscar Piastri ahead of qualifying and the grand prix.