Leonardo Fornaroli’s return to the Monza GP offered both triumph and disappointment. He won the Sprint Race, but a messy Feature Race left him with a P5 and so “mixed emotions” after a weekend that didn’t go entirely to plan.
Qualifying & Sprint highpoints
Fornaroli began the weekend facing adversity in Qualifying: “Well, it was a bit up and down, mixed emotions. We were bit unlucky qualifying with an issue, but we were still able to maintain P8 which wasn’t so bad.”
Despite that, he bounced back on Saturday. “Yesterday went very well, winning the race. The pace felt very strong, the car was super good too, so happy about that.” That Sprint victory marked his fourth race weekend in a row with at least one win, and strengthened his grip on the Drivers’ Championship lead.
Feature race frustrations
Sunday’s Feature Race was less clean for Fornaroli. “But then today was not my best driving ever let’s say. It was a bit of a messy race, and I could have managed things a bit better. With all the stuff happening around me, I was trying to avoid damage, but I got a bit in the first stint.”
His start didn’t help: “My start wasn’t very good either, and it was just a bit messy overall.” Even so, he salvaged fifth: “But still, we came away with a P5. I was hoping for something a bit better, but that’s ok. We’ll stick with it and move on.”
Championship mindset & what’s next
Fornaroli doesn’t dwell on what could have been. He’s already looking ahead, determined to make the remaining rounds count. “Fifth wasn’t so bad, I would have liked a better result, but now I have to focus a bit more on trying to improve as much as I can for the upcoming rounds because they’re going to be very important.”
He believes in his own ability and his partnership with Invicta Racing: “I will study today’s race and see where I went wrong and try not to repeat the mistakes next time.”
He is confident of strong finishes ahead, saying, “I’m confident because I know we can do a very good job. I think I’m working well with Invicta and I’m always comfortable in the car and can push, so I know we have what it takes to do a good job in the last rounds.”
Looking at the bigger picture
The Monza GP delivered a weekend that encapsulated Fornaroli’s 2025 campaig, flashes of brilliance, mixed with moments that leave points on the table. The Italian still leads the Drivers’ Championship by 21 points over Luke Browning after Browning’s Feature Race win on Sunday.
What feels most important now is consistency. Fornaroli’s pace in the Sprint Race proved he has the speed; in the Feature, he showed he knows when to be cautious. If he blends the two, he may well close out the season as champion.
