Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli delivered a stunning lap to secure his second pole-position of the year during Qualifying at the F2 Austrian GP. Securing pole by just 0.014 seconds, the Italian edged out seasoned veterans ART GP’s Victor Martins and MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor—proving once again why he is a force to be reckoned with.
With several trips to the podium already in 2025, Fornaroli targets the top-step of the podium on Sunday. Currently P6 in the Driver Standings with 66 points to his name, the Italian would hope to secure his second single-seater win during the Feature Race on Sunday.
During the Post-Qualifying Press Conference, Pit Debrief was in attendance alongside other media outlets as the 20 year-old reflected on his Qualifying performance at the Red Bull Ring.
Lap not perfect, but was still enough for P1
In his rookie season, Fornaroli has consistently qualified in the Top 10—an impressive testament to the reigning F3 champion’s consistency. The Italian had admitted he felt that his lap was not perfect. Reflecting on his final run in Qualifying, Fornaroli explained he had struggled in sector three throughout the day, losing most of his lap time there. Still, despite a few minor mistakes, the Italian felt satisfied that his efforts were enough to secure himself a front-row start on Sunday.
“To be honest, it’s all day I’m struggling in sector three. I thought I was on the limit, but I did a mistake also in the last corner, bit of margin in [Turn] nine, so that’s where I lost all the time, but sector one and two, even if [the lap] didn’t feel perfect for me, they were still good to do P1.”
Nonetheless, securing pole was redemption for Fornaroli, making up for his poor Qualifying results in F3 at the Austrian GP.
“Yes, of course, I’m very, very happy to finish P1. Also, looking back in F3, I had two difficult qualifying here, so now to finish P1, it’s nice.”
Scoring crucial points will be important this weekend
After a run of consecutive point-finishes, it all came to an end in Barcelona for the Italian. Walking away from the Spanish GP, Fornaroli ended the weekend with a retirement and only two points added to his championship tally. With just 21 points separating the Top 6, every points will be essential in climbing his way up the standings. The Invicta driver explained that it will be key to leave the weekend with more points on the board.
Fornaroli said: “Yes, of course, it will be crucial because everything happening in Barcelona, there we lost so many points, so it will be important to score points this weekend, and I will do my best to try to do that.”
Data and on-boards key to preparation
In preparation for Qualifying, Fornaroli outlined the process drivers take to piece together the ideal lap. After stepping out of the car following Free Practice, the Italian gave a brief rundown of how he optimised his learnings and approach headed into Qualifying.
“[Study] data, see what you can improve with your driving, what you can improve with the car, check the on-boards from the free practice session, also some on-boards from the previous pole-position, and just that.”
Tight qualifying margins in a competitive field
In what has been an extremely competitive season thus far, Qualifying margins have been smaller than ever. When asked about why the field is tight as ever, Fornaroli noted that on a short circuit like this, tight margins are inevitable. The Invicta driver added that with the overall level of competition so high this year, finding performance and gaining a competitive edge has become increasingly difficult.
“Well, in such a short track like Red Bull Ring, the gaps are always very close. During all the year, the gaps are always very close because the level this year is so high that it’s very difficult to make the difference in the performance.”
Invicta’s strengths lies in listening to their drivers
As the team behind reigning F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto, Fornaroli expressed his satisfaction with the environment he’s chosen to be a part of for his rookie season. When asked by Pit Debrief about where Invicta’s strengths lie when finding performance, the 20 year-old credited the team’s open-minded approach and their strong willingness to listen to his feedback.
“Well, I’m very happy to stay with them because they have a very open mind. They work very well with the drivers. They’re happy to follow their requests, to follow them with the car.”
Fornaroli praised Invicta’s consistent Qualifying pace and their ability to adapt between races—adding that it’s a pleasure to be with them this year.
“And we were always super strong in qualifying, was always very comfortable with the car. And like Victor [Martins] said, sometimes we struggled a bit in the high [degradation] tracks, especially in the Sprint Race. But then in the Feature Race, we were always doing a very good step forward.”
“So it’s a pleasure to stay with them this year.”
Living up to his nickname, the “consistency king”
Fornaroli showcased his potential through consistent point-scoring, a factor that served a key purpose in his F3 title win last year—despite not securing a single race victory. He outlined his ability to stay consistent comes down to avoiding unnecessary risks.
Fornaroli explained: “The key is try to not exaggerate, try to don’t take crazy risks and always take home points. So yeah, that’s what I always did.”
Slipstream or is clean air king?
When asked by Pit Debrief about the impact of slipstreams and clean air at a circuit like Red Bull Ring, Fornaroli responded that he prefers driving in clean air.
Fornaroli said: “I actually prefer to have clean air mostly. In the first run, I was 3.5 seconds to the car in front, just to have a little bit of tow, also a reference, but to have a good aero in all the corners.”
“Then in the second one, I tried to stay a bit closer to the car in front, so for sure it helped a bit in the straights and it still didn’t affect me in the corners.”
While noting that while slipstreams don’t significantly affect lap times, staying in clean air during races will be crucial as overtaking around the Red Bull Ring remains challenging despite the three DRS zones.
“But I think if I was going alone, I think I was still doing the same lap time. And speaking about the races, I think it will be important to stay in clean air because I think it does a massive difference, even if you have three different zones. Also watching the last year’s race, it’s not super easy to overtake here.”
“Never go super aggressive” – Fornaroli on keeping tyres in working window for a Qualifying lap
Fornaroli shared that unlike most drivers, him and teammate Roman Stanek were drivers who managed to improve on their second push lap. The Italian explained that by holding back slightly on his first run, this preserves enough tyre life to extract more performance on the next lap.
“Speaking with a lot of drivers and also these two, I understood that I was the only one to improve on the second lap. And also Roman [Stanek], okay.”
“And I mean, during the first lap, I never go super aggressive because apart at tracks like Bahrain [and] Barcelona where, you know, you have only one lap, but here when you can have consecutive laps, well, at least for me, I never go super aggressive in the first lap to have still good tyres to improve in the second lap.”
Starting P10 for the Sprint Race later today, Fornaroli would hope to charge his way to points once more. However, starting on the front-row on Sunday, he would hope to secure his long-awaited second single-seater win.
