Leonardo Fornaroli is set for a private test with the Haas F1 Team at Jerez through TPC. The Formula 2 Champion previously made his FP1 debut with McLaren at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP, and has tested with the British team previously. Now, he has been offered the opportunity to take the two-day test with Haas.
The test will use the 2025 car, VF-25, and Fornaroli will be joined by the TGR Haas reserve driver, Ryō Hirakawa. As a part of TPC, the team can test previous cars and has chosen Fornaroli to do so from June 17 to June 18th.
Fornaroli FP1 Debut with McLaren ahead of Haas F1 Team TPC testing
The McLaren junior had his first FP1 session with the team in Barcelona. On Friday, he spoke about driving the F1 car, saying:
“It was amazing. An incredible feeling. I was very emotional before the session, first official Formula 1 session in a Formula 1 weekend. Sharing the track with all the drivers that now I’m watching on the monitors, on the television, every race weekend, those guys are amazing. They’re super fast, and staying on track with them was incredible. Very happy with the work I’ve done. I hope I’ve given to McLaren all the data they needed and yeah, happy about the session.”
The Italian driver ended the FP1 session as P5, with a lap time of 1:17.216. He had the best finish among the seven participating rookies. When asked what the milestone moment means to him and his family, he reflected:
“My dad was with me as well, was very emotional as well. Today, the lap time, the pure lap time wasn’t our goal. The goal was to provide all the data that the team needed. We did a lot of aero work on the car starting the session, and that was the most important thing. I hope I’ve done everything clean. I bring the car home, did a clean session, and I’m very happy about the work done with the team.”
Previously, Fornaroli tested the McLaren 2023 specification car. Speaking about how much that experience helped him leading up to FP1, he said:
“It helped a lot. Of course because the car behaves different compared to the TPC car, but still the jump from F2 is very quick. So to have some TPC days before the first F1 session, it was a massive help. Also, I’m doing a lot of sim work with the 2026 car. So I knew already what to expect kind of. Next, still a lot of work with the team doing my reserve driver role, some other TPC and FP1 in the next part of the year.”
