McLaren confirms new name joining F1 reserve driver roster for 2026

McLaren has confirmed it will race with two reserve drivers on standby for the F1 2026 campaign.

McLaren has outlined its full Driver Development programme for the 2026 season, as well as firming up its plans for its reserve drivers.

McLaren confirms reserve driver plans

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In the off-chance of some misfortune or unexpected circumstances preventing one of its usual race drivers from taking part in a Grand Prix, every team usually has a driver or two waiting in the wings as an official understudy.

These reserve drivers are usually part of the team directly, although it’s also not unusual for some customer teams to share a small pool of reserves with their engine supplier team.

At McLaren, the Woking-based squad intends to have two official reserve drivers ready and waiting in the off-chance that either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri ever find themselves unable to take part in a race.

This can happen in the event of an unfortunate injury or illness, or in the event of a race ban – an example being when Kevin Magnussen was banned from taking part in the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after accumulating 12 penalty points on his FIA Super Licence. For that race, Haas called upon its reserve driver, Oliver Bearman, to take his seat.

Formula 2 Champion Leonardo Fornaroli, who put pen to paper to join McLaren immediately after securing the title in Qatar, initially signed as a test and development driver, with TPC outings. This role has now been expanded as he becomes an official reserve, and will include an “intensive” testing and simulation programme.

The 20-year-old Italian will share the reserve duty with long-time test driver Pato O’Ward, who has also served as a reserve driver for the past two seasons. He will continue to race with McLaren’s IndyCar team in the American series.

“I’m thrilled to be stepping into an extended role with the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team as Reserve Driver as part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme,” Fornaroli said.

“It’s an exciting next step in my journey, and I’m looking forward to contributing to such a successful, Championship-winning team this season. A big thank you to Zak [Brown], Andrea [Stella], and Alessandro [Alunni Bravi] for this opportunity.”

“I am excited to continue in my role as Reserve Driver for the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, alongside my primary duties in the IndyCar series with Arrow McLaren,” said O’Ward.

“I’ve learned an incredible amount testing and driving F1 cars over the past few years, so I am looking forward to this continued growth and development.”

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McLaren outlines full driver development programme

McLaren has also completed refreshing its Driver Development programme in the aftermath of several talents departing, with Brando Badoer, Martinius Stenshorne, and Ugo Ugochukwu all being released towards the end of 2025.

These followed Alex Dunne’s departure from McLaren in September, with the Irish driver seeking opportunities elsewhere on the grid.

Recent signings to the programme include long-time F2 driver Richard Verschoor, Mika Hakkinen’s daughter Ella, and Christian Costoya stepping up into single-seaters after multiple titles at karting level.

McLaren’s Driver Development programme for 2026:

• Leonardo Fornaroli – F1 reserve and test driver
• Pato O’Ward – F1 reserve and test driver
• Richard Verschoor – McLaren Racing test driver, will compete with DUQUEINE in LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series.
• Matteo De Palo – Formula 3 with Trident.
• Ella Lloyd – F1 Academy with McLaren and Rodin Motorsport.
• Ella Stevens – F1 Academy with McLaren and Rodin Motorsport.
• Dries Van Langendonck – British Formula 4 and Formula Winter Series with Rodin Motorsport.
• Christian Costoya – Italian Formula 4, Euro 4, Formula 4 Middle East.
• Ella Hakkinen – F4 single-seater testing programme.

McLaren’s Driver Development Programme is overseen by the team’s chief business affairs officer, Alessandro Alunni Bravi.

“The team are pleased to confirm its Driver Development Programme line-up alongside their racing and testing programmes for 2026,” he said.

“Within this, it’s great for Leonardo to step up into the Reserve Driver role for the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team as part of his development with us, with Pato O’Ward also continuing in this role.

“We have selected an incredibly talented group of nine drivers, which shows the health of our talent pipeline. We are all excited to see their development this season as we create professional drivers across all aspects of racing, progressing towards Formula 1, IndyCar and the team’s upcoming World Endurance Championship entry.”

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