2025 F2 Champion and McLaren reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli is set to participate in a Formula 1 TPC test for Haas, this week.
Fornaroli has built quite a reputation for himself in the F1 paddock after a stellar junior career so far.
The 21-year-old won the Formula 3 championship in 2024 before backing it up with the F2 title, last season – becoming one of only a handful of drivers to have won both the accolades in consecutive years.
The Woking-based team has quickly lapped up his services as a reserve driver for the team, this season, with TPC (Testing of Previous Car) tests at Silverstone and the Circuit of the Americas already in the bag for the Italian.
Fornaroli also took part in the FP1 rookie session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, last weekend – with an impressive maiden outing in the MCL40.
Now, Haas has reportedly sought the Italian out to drive a TPC test with the VF-25 (Haas’ 2025 challenger) at Jerez, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Fornaroli will be joined by the Banbury-based team’s reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa at the Spanish circuit.
McLaren casts F1 “future” verdict for Leonardo Fornaroli after Barcelona FP1 exploits
Fornaroli put in a stellar shift during the first practice session at Barcelona, last Friday.
Placing fifth overall, he was only six-and-a-half tenths away from Oscar Piastri and overall under a second behind pace-setter George Russell.
After the session, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella offered high praise for the 21-year-old calling him an “a very interesting character who will certainly be an “asset for F1 in the future.”
“It’s a very deserved opportunity,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week. “We have worked with Leonardo for some months now. We have appreciated massively his attitude as a person and as a driver.
“He’s actually a very interesting character. He looks timid, but by far is the most proactive driver in asking the engineers [questions].
“He goes around with his notebook, takes several notes, and as soon as he has an idea, he shares it.
“So he’s a very interesting character, and then when he gets in a car, be it either the simulator, be it in the TPC testing car, or here in a Free Practice 1 session on a current car, is fast.
“Very happy with the attitude, the speed, the consistency. Leonardo is certainly an asset for Formula 1 in the future.”
The Jerez test with Haas will be a crucial step forward for Fornaroli on his road to F1, with the Italian set to resume his McLaren reserve duties at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian GP, in two weeks’ time.
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri calls for McLaren learnings after ‘problematic’ F1 Barcelona GP
Originally published by motorsportweek.com —
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