Fornaroli 'definitely worthy of being in F1' – Brown

(opens in a new tab)Sign InSubscribeF1ScheduleChevron DropdownPrevious 2026 SeasonDriver Standings Team StandingsArchive 1950-2025F1 AwardsNewsChevron DropdownWhat is F1? What is F1 TV?F1 GlossaryGet involved2026 RegulationsNewsVideosVasseur responds to Wolff's Ferrari upgrade remarksFornaroli 'definitely worthy of being in F1' – BrownBettingBest Qualifying bets for the British Grand PrixBattig achieves historic F1 ACADEMY pole on Wild Card debutPlay1:352026 British GP Sprint Qualifying: Ride onboard as Lewis Hamilton claims Sprint Pole 10:44TECH TALK – All the Silverstone updates revealed! Alexander AlbonFernando AlonsoKimi AntonelliOliver BearmanGabriel BortoletoValtteri BottasFranco ColapintoPierre GaslyIsack HadjarLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergLiam LawsonCharles LeclercArvid LindbladLando NorrisEsteban OconSergio PerezOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzLance StrollMax VerstappenAll Drivers Hall of FameTeamsChevron DropdownAlpineAston MartinAudiCadillacFerrariHaas F1 TeamMcLarenMercedesRacing BullsRed Bull RacingWilliamsAll TeamsFantasy & GamingChevron DropdownF1 Sim RacingFantasyF1 25F1 Manager 24F1 PredictF1 ClashF1 Members' AreaMenuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hopefully-hell-secure-a-seat-brown-tips-mclaren-reserve-fornaroli-as-worthy-of-being-in-f1.2MLr3r5EyZH4HVyiQO89wa.2MLr3r5EyZH4HVyiQO89wa"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hopefully-hell-secure-a-seat-brown-tips-mclaren-reserve-fornaroli-as-worthy-of-being-in-f1.2MLr3r5EyZH4HVyiQO89wa","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hopefully-hell-secure-a-seat-brown-tips-mclaren-reserve-fornaroli-as-worthy-of-being-in-f1.2MLr3r5EyZH4HVyiQO89wa","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hopefully-hell-secure-a-seat-brown-tips-mclaren-reserve-fornaroli-as-worthy-of-being-in-f1.2MLr3r5EyZH4HVyiQO89wa","datePublished":"2026-07-04T08:59:48.343Z","dateModified":"2026-07-04T08:59:48.343Z","headline":"‘Hopefully he’ll secure a seat’ – Zak Brown tips McLaren reserve Leonardo Fornaroli as ‘worthy of being in F1’","author":"F1","description":"Off the back of his recent FP1 debut for the team, McLaren reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli has impressed Zak Brown.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9North/f_auto/q_auto/v1783155456/fom-website/2026/Great%20Britain/GettyImages-2281215009.jpg"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}Zak BrownMcLarenGreat BritainShow more tags‘Hopefully he’ll secure a seat’ – Brown tips McLaren reserve Fornaroli as ‘worthy of being in F1’Off the back of his recent FP1 debut for the team, McLaren reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli has impressed Zak Brown. Zak Brown has expressed his confidence that McLaren reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli is “definitely worthy of being in F1”, with the team CEO hopeful that the youngster can secure a seat on the grid. Off the back of winning the Formula 2 championship last year, Fornaroli signed to McLaren’s Driver Development Programme in December, while it was later confirmed that he would share reserve driver duties at the squad for 2026 alongside Pato O’Ward. The Italian has since participated in testing for the team, as well as making his FP1 debut in place of Lando Norris at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, where he recorded 22 laps and placed a respectable fifth on the timesheets. In the days that followed, the 21-year-old also got behind the wheel of Haas’ 2025 challenger, the VF-25, during a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) run at the Jerez Circuit in Spain alongside the American outfit’s reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, with the team stating that they have “the capacity to test and appraise drivers” through the programme. As such, Brown was asked during the British Grand Prix weekend whether there were “real possibilities” for Fornaroli to join Kimi Antonelli as the second Italian racer on the grid. “Yeah, I think there are,” Brown responded. “He's a great talent. He’s been doing some testing with us, and so hopefully he’ll secure an F1 seat. “I think he’s definitely worthy of being in F1.” In terms of McLaren’s driver line-up going forward, much recent speculation has centred around reports that Max Verstappen’s management have held informal discussions to explore opportunities at the Woking-based outfit. However, with Norris and Oscar Piastri both holding ‘multi-year’ deals at the team, Brown reiterated that the squad are content with their current pairing. “They're rumours,” he joked of recent Verstappen speculation. “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. “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.” F1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited