Piastri to Sit Out Sao Paulo FP1 as McLaren Hands Fornaroli a Second Straight Run

Oscar Piastri will watch from the sidelines when first practice begins at Interlagos on Friday, with McLaren handing his car to junior driver Leo Fornaroli for the opening session of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. It will be Fornaroli's second outing in as many weekends, having driven Lando Norris's car during practice in Mexico City, as McLaren completes its mandatory rookie sessions for the season. The Italian is the team's reserve driver and has impressed in the junior ranks, but stepping into a race-winning car at a sprint weekend, with rain forecast across Saturday and Sunday, is a serious test. McLaren arrives in Brazil chasing Red Bull in the constructors' standings, 17 points adrift of second place, and the team's chief technical officer of aerodynamics, Peter Prodromou, has said the squad will bring "some" updates to Sao Paulo in a bid to close the gap. Piastri himself has endured a difficult run of form, and the extra preparation time will do him no harm, but giving up track time on a weekend where every session counts is a calculated risk. Fornaroli, meanwhile, gets another chance to show he belongs at this level.