The McLaren roster will look a little bit completely different this yr.
Lando Norris has endured a depressing begin to the season (Picture: Getty)
McLaren have revealed reigning Components Two champion Leonardo Fornaroli is ready to drive Lando Norris’ automobile for a session at this weekend’s Barcelona Grand Prix. It’s been a season to overlook for final season’s world champion Norris, who finds himself 98 factors off championship chief Kimi Antonelli after simply six races.
It’s wanting like his title defence is already in tatters, with McLaren having endured a depressing begin to 2026 following the regulation adjustments. It was back-to-back DNFs for Norris in Monaco, with McLaren principal Zak Brown admitting they’re nonetheless approach off the place they need to be with the automobile.
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The excellent news for Norris is he gained’t should endure the McLaren motor for the whole lot of this weekend’s race in Catalonia, with Fornaroli set to drive the automobile throughout a observe session. In a press release, the Italian remarked: “I’m wanting ahead to attending to drive the MCL40 this weekend in Spain for Free Follow 1.
“It’s an incredible alternative to assist the group with their preparations and work by the deliberate Friday programme. It’s additionally a really particular milestone for me personally as will probably be my first official Components 1 session.
“It’s one thing I’ve labored in direction of for a very long time and I’m extremely grateful for the chance to take this subsequent step with McLaren Racing.
“The expertise I’ve gained to date this yr by the a number of Testing of Earlier Vehicles occasions I’ve efficiently accomplished has been so beneficial for my improvement and total studying of driving a Components 1 automobile. Thanks to Zak, Andrea and Alessandro for his or her continued assist and I can’t wait to get within the automobile on Friday.”
Fornaroli had emulated the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri by successful the Components Two title in 2025. He joined McLaren’s junior scheme final yr, with the 21-year-old having been promoted to order driver within the early a part of 2026.
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Leonardo Fornaroli shall be within the McLaren for a observe session this weekend (Picture: Getty)
He’ll be hoping to take a few of the stress away from Norris, who was annoyed after his newest DNF. The Brit appeared to name out his storage, claiming the latest points weren’t “ok”.
He stated: “There have been some points in the beginning, after which extra within the center, and I don’t know in the event that they’re associated or not, however I simply bought advised to retire the automobile, so not so much I can do these days.
“It was simply loads of stuff, like I may hear from the engine, the turbo, the battery, loads of issues that don’t sound appropriate. We tried to repair it, it made the issue worse. We put it again, so I had the issues once more, however appeared to should dwell with it, after which in the long run they simply fully went…
“It looks like each weekend we’ve got one thing, but it surely’s not simply McLaren, it’s Mercedes as nicely – and between HPP [Mercedes High Performance Powertrains] and McLaren, we’ve got to do a greater job, as a result of it’s simply not ok.”
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