Leonardo Fornaroli rocketed to his first victory in Formula 2, as he came out on top of the Sprint Race at the British GP.
The Invicta Racing driver started from the revered pole position. After Kush Maini overtook him off the starting line, the Italian attacked to take back his race lead. After the brawl at the start, Fornaroli managed to keep his position and defend from the cars behind for the rest of the sprint race. He stormed towards the chequered flag, with a 1.4 second gap to second place behind him.
Fornaroli won the F3 championship in 2024 without taking a win, continuing a winless streak of four years. However, that was broken at the British GP.
Immensely satisfied after first sprint win
When speaking to media, the Italian driver was immensely cheerful after his first F2 win, and first race win in four years. Fornaroli was asked how he was feeling after the sprint race and expressed his joy while reflecting on parts of the race, stating:
“I’m very happy! Very satisfied about the race. It wasn’t a very good start and Kush passed me and there I said no please I have to regain that P1. We fought quite a bit going to T7, and then luckily I managed to repass him. Then there was no safety car so it was like a qualifying race.“
“I knew I had to have a nice gap to the P2 guy before the big DRS zones, otherwise they were going to pass me. It was fun, and I’m very happy about the time management and everything because I was able to arrive in good condition at the end to be able to fight with Sebastian. It was quite close, and we were pushing like crazy, but I’m very satisfied about the day. It’s a sprint race of course, but still, P1 is good.”
The young driver illustrated just how well he can perform when fighting at the front around the Silverstone circuit. Now that he secured his first sprint win, he undoubtably wants to grab his first feature race win as the next milestone.
“Today I was quite confident that I could take it. The last rounds I started on pole a few times and I couldn’t get the win, so I really wanted the P1. Finally, I took it, and I’m very satisfied!”
Under pressure in the cockpit
When asked about his nerves in the car and getting put under pressure in the final few laps, the Invicta driver revealed that there was not only pressure in the end, but also at the start, stating:
“Well there was also a bit of pressure at the start because Kush was quite close, but I knew the pace was good. We had adjusted quite a lot of things compared to yesterday. It’s also nice to bounce back from a disappointing quali. I saw that the pace was good today, so I’m also happy about that. Happy that the adjustment we did worked.”
“Then speaking about the race, through mid-race I saw Kush dropping back and then like five or six laps to go, Seb overtook him, and he was looking quite strong, so I said okay it’s time to push. Luckily, as I said before, I was in good condition with the tyres, so I was able to remain in front of him, so I’m happy about today.”
With Fornaroli securing the victory and his teammate, Roman Stanek grabbing P3, the Invicta team will be more than pleased with their weekend. A double podium for the team sets the bar high for tomorrow’s feature race where the drivers will give it their all to repeat the amazing result.
Confident for the feature race
A query regarding keeping a stable pace throughout the sprint race while managing the tyres well, came up. The driver was further asked which impact these elements can have on the feature race. Fornaroli responded:
“I was managing everything by watching what the guys behind were doing so if they were coming closer to me, I was starting to push more. If I saw that there was a gap, I was trying to chill a bit more to be able to arrive with good condition at the end. The car felt very good today, so I’m confident going into tomorrow because I think the pace was very good.”
The Invicta Racing driver continued on to be asked about what the sprint win means to him. The Italian expressed his joy, while still maintaining the same approach to push for more.
“It’s very satisfying to have a win in F2. It’s a sprint race, but it’s still a win. It will not change much because I will try to push to achieve a bit more, but it’s a little boost of confidence.” Fornaroli exclaimed.
Double podium for Invicta
Additionally, the Italian was asked about the double podium for Invicta, and the battle to achieve the result.
“It’s very nice to have Roman on the podium as well. We knew each other since three years when we were both racing for TRIDENT. It’s been very helpful to be with him through this year because he has good experience in F2, so I learned a lot. He helped me always to improve my mistakes.”
“I didn’t panic even though I really wanted to regain P1 as soon as possible because I knew still the race was long and the pace was gonna be good. We did a nice fight until T7. I tried to go on the outside there, I think he saw me in the mirror so he tried to push a bit more, so he didn’t have a good exit, and he ran a little bit wide, so I was able to get a switch back and go side by side with him until T9. Then I was on the inside, so I pushed the entry, and it’s very difficult to go around the outside of the Copse [Turn 9] so I was able to regain the position.”
Championship battle
Fornaroli currently lies second in the Formula 2 Championship. With only 20 points separating the Italian driver from the championship leader, Richard Verschoor, the battle is tight with several rounds still to go.
When asked if being second in the championship now changes his approach to certain battles in races, the 20-year-old did not appear to focus on the battle for the title. Still he listed a few considerations that are important if he wants to be a contender, stating:
“Still a bit too much, there are still quite a lot of rounds to go, so everything can happen, as I saw last year. I will try to achieve as many points as possible. Luckily, the last year being consistent, always finish the race, to collect data, to be stronger the next day and achieve as many points as possible.”
In Formula 2, being consistent becomes immensely important in terms of the championship. In previous years, driver with little wins have still managed to win the title as they were consistent enough to collect points in every round. The young Italian has shown plenty of improvement and skill that can only help in the battle for the title.
Constructors fight
Additionally, the battle for the constructors is immensely tight as the teams in F2 are getting closer to each other. When asked if the constructors’ championship is something he considers, the driver expressed:
“It’s very close between the teams in front of us and the teams behind us. It’s very important that we collect some points today. Sometimes when I was watching in the mirrors, and I was seeing Roman close to the podium, I was like come on Roman. But, yeah, it’s very close in the teams’ championship, and it’s nice to collect points, but it still means nothing because there are a lot of rounds to go. Tomorrow there is the feature race which will be a bit more difficult, especially for me because I will be starting from P10, but I will give my best, and I’m sure Roman will do the same.”
The young driver appears to be more focused on each performance as opposed to looking at the championship battles just yet. The approach to take it weekend by weekend can become helpful as the racing driver stays determined to make each day better than the one before.
Lastly, as the weather at Silverstone can be a tricky challenge, the question of if rain during the feature race would be suitable to his race. The Invicta driver responded:
“It can help us with the strategy to try to gain some positions, but we will see what will happen tomorrow. In case of rain we’ll have to change a lot of things in the set-up because from dry to rain we have to do quite a lot of changes.”
