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McLaren Backing Fornaroli for 2027 Grid as Red Bull Driver Market Waits
McLaren is backing reigning Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli for a 2027 race seat as wider paddock moves remain paused while Red Bull evaluates its future lineup.
By Michael de Vries - 2026-08-11T06:46:34.000Z - 3 min read
McLaren is providing active backing to driver development member Leonardo Fornaroli as the reigning Formula 2 champion targets a debut Formula 1 race seat for the 2027 season. Having secured the F3 title before winning the F2 crown, the Italian signed with Woking late last year. He has already logged track time in 2026 FP1 sessions at Barcelona and Austria, alongside testing older machinery for both McLaren at Portimao and Haas at Jerez.
Haas has emerged as the most viable potential destination for Fornaroli should an opening materialize, with Esteban Ocon's seat currently coming under threat. However, any move to the American squad would involve navigating internal competition. Haas retains other potential options on its roster, including Toyota-contracted driver Ryo Hirakawa and former Alpine racer Jack Doohan.
Beyond individual team shortlists, movement across the driver market has effectively entered a holding pattern. Paddock negotiations for 2027 seats remain largely on pause until clarity emerges surrounding Max Verstappen and whether he opts to remain at Red Bull. That delay filters directly down to junior academy drivers attempting to break onto the grid.
The seat landscape within Red Bull's own stable presents a similarly delicate picture for Liam Lawson. Currently driving for Racing Bulls, Lawson holds the top position outside the sport's main four teams in the championship standings. With Racing Bulls operating as the fifth-fastest team on average this year, the more experienced Kiwi is delivering the expected baseline performance on paper.
Lawson's primary pressure comes from inside his own garage. Rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad has proved a close match on raw speed. Although Lindblad trails Lawson by 20 points in the standings, the qualifying head-to-head sits tight at 6-5 in Lawson's favour across fair comparisons, while Lindblad holds a slight lead of 0.017 seconds on average pace. Team principal Alan Permane noted that the pair are incredibly close, emphasizing that the team's primary role remains developing talent for the senior Red Bull squad.
Rebuilding momentum has been a complex process for Lawson since his brief two-race stint beside Verstappen at Red Bull at the start of 2025. Following those difficult outings, Red Bull demoted him back to Racing Bulls in a seat swap with Yuki Tsunoda. Lawson was subsequently outpaced at the sister team by Isack Hadjar, a performance gap that prompted Red Bull to promote Hadjar to the senior team for the 2026 campaign.
Lawson's prospects of earning another opportunity at Red Bull now rest on a shifted political environment. Under the previous management of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, a second chance at the main team appeared off the table. With Laurent Mekies heading Red Bull as team principal and Gwen Lagrue preparing to lead the driver development programme, the criteria for how Red Bull evaluates Lawson's future remain open.