McLaren has made plenty of bold calls lately. Still, their latest one has definitely set the internet on fire as the team has officially signed fresh F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli to its driver development programme as their new test and development driver. It sounds like a big opportunity on paper, but many fans online seem anything but thrilled about this decision.
The news dropped with a lot of excitement from McLaren’s side, but the reaction across social media has been a mix of concern and even frustration.
F3 Champion Leonardo Fornaroli Picked Up by McLaren
At the age of only 20, Fornaroli has put together a junior career that many drivers dream of by winning the F3 title in 2024. He then backed it up immediately by winning the F2 title this year. He sealed the championship in Qatar with a second place in the feature race, which perfectly sums up his excellent performance this year.
Another impressive point about him is that he won both championships without being affiliated with any F1 junior academy, and in the modern era of F1, that is almost unheard of. Drivers are typically picked up and sponsored very early in their careers, so Fornaroli stood out by building his success through consistency and exceptional driving.
McLaren spotted that, and with Alex Dunne leaving the team’s junior programme earlier this season, there was an open space, and Fornaroli became the top pick. The move could even get him into Oscar Piastri’s seat for FP1 in Abu Dhabi, since Piastri still has one mandatory rookie session to give up this year.
Fornaroli seemed genuinely happy in his first statement, “I’m incredibly proud to be joining the McLaren Driver Development Programme after another successful year on track. I’m very grateful to McLaren for this opportunity, and to everyone who has supported me throughout my career so far. I can’t wait to get started and work closely with the rest of the team.”
F1 Fans Are Worried About The Signing
While McLaren views Fornaroli as a wise long-term investment, the F1 community has not responded with the same enthusiasm. Fans on social media have immediately started to warn, citing McLaren’s recent handling of driver careers and strategies.
You can acheve nothing under Papaya rules. Just saying.
— Atropinka (@atropinka) December 2, 2025
One fan wrote, “You can acheve nothing under Papaya rules. Just saying.” Another commented, “I hope you won’t mess them like you’ve done over the last two races for Lando and Oscar!”
Other reactions were even more blunt, with someone writing, “Get Out and Get Out now before zak ruins your career.”
Get Out and Get Out now before zak ruins your career
— steve_wells1 (@steve_wells1) December 2, 2025
Another fan angrily wrote, “don’t ruin their careers just because you’re bunch of bums.”
dont ruin their careers just because you’re bunch of bums
— cath 💌 (@angelicsilencee) December 2, 2025
The frustration is not just about Fornaroli, but also stems from McLaren’s turbulent few months internally, which has led to some great young talents being released from the programme recently. Before that, Dunne walked away following disagreements over the direction of his career, especially when McLaren wanted him to move to IndyCar despite a strong F2 season.
Fans are afraid Fornaroli might become another talented junior who gets stuck behind confusing decisions and unstable development planning.
Along with Fornaroli, McLaren also added Richard Verschoor and Spanish karting standout Christian Costoya to the program, and the team stated that this is part of a broader effort to build a strong talent pipeline that can serve all of McLaren’s racing branches.
There is no doubt that Fornaroli possesses the talent to reach F1 and has already accomplished the hard part by proving himself in F3 and F2. What happens next depends on whether McLaren provides the stability and development path he needs.