On Sunday, Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli charged to victory as he led home the team’s one-two finish at the F2 Hungarian GP. From the get-go, both Invicta drivers demonstrated strong potential for delivering standout results—especially during Qualifying and the Feature Race. It had all begun on Friday as his teammate Roman Staněk delivered a stunning lap to claim pole. Crossing the line, Fornaroli joined his teammate at the top of the timings to complete an Invicta front-row lock out for Sunday’s Feature Race. Despite receiving a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, Fornaroli was unstoppable. By successfully undercutting Staněk, he emerged ahead to secure his first Feature Race win.
Entering the Hungarian GP, Fornaroli had a mere 3 point advantage over MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor. However, after his win, the 20 year-old has extended his advantage in the Drivers’ Standings to 17 points out in front—with DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford following behind. In what was a stressful race for the Italian, Pit Debrief was in attendance, alongside other media outlets, as he reflected on his outstanding charge to victory in a post-race press conference.
Tackling a stressful race
Fornaroli admitted it was a tough race, especially after the pit stop when he had to defend from Staněk whilst managing poor track conditions. Despite undercutting his teammate, the Italian explained how he sensed a risk of a penalty as he suspected he’d exceeded the speed limit entering the pit lane.
“No, it was really, really hard, because after the pit stop, I managed to stay in front of Roman [Staněk], even if he got very close to me. So, there it was very difficult. Also, the conditions of the track, they were not so good.”
“So, to warm up the tyres was quite dangerous because the chance of locking up or wheel spin was very high. But I knew something didn’t go well in the pit entry, because I had 50km per hour a bit after the line, so I said, Ok, maybe we’re at risk.”
Recalling the incident, Fornaroli described a short moment of tension when his engineer had initially stayed silent. His engineer refused to acknowledge the possibility of a penalty before its confirmation. The Italian explained how he continued to press for answers. He was finally told he had a five-second time penalty to face.
“My engineer was not telling me anything, maybe to not scare me, but I wanted to know to be able to push a bit more or not. So, I was asking, are we in danger of something? He said, yes, maybe with the other drivers with the opposite strategy. I said, only that? He didn’t say anything, I said only that. He said, Ok, we have a five-second time penalty. I said, yes.”
Late VSC or SC could have ruined his race
In continuation, the Italian knew he had to make up for five-seconds that was going to be added at the end of the race—prompting him to push. Fornaroli said: “So, no, it was 13 laps to go at the time, so I knew I had to push as much as I could.“.
He admitted that managing tyre degradation was a struggle and claimed that benefitting from a clear track in front played a difference. Taking advantage of it, Fornaroli explained how he then drove off into the distance, although initially, he’d thought that wasn’t possible with Staněk sticking close to him.
“It was very difficult to deal with the degradation because at the end I dropped a bit. But, yeah, probably the clean air made some difference. So, I had a little advantage compared to Roman [Staněk] and Jak [Crawford].”
“So, I was able to use that opportunity and finish the race more than five seconds in front. I couldn’t believe I was going to do that because Roman [Staněk], at the start of my prime stint, was very close to me.”
During the final laps, he admitted he’d watched the screens nervously. He feared a late Virtual Safety Car or full Safety Car could’ve potentially ruined his race. But, fortunately enough for him, the race ran green to the end for him to claim victory.
“And, you know, I was super scared of a safety car, a VSC or something, because if it had come, my race was destroyed. So, I was praying every lap. I was watching the big screens if something was happening. And in the last three laps, I actually saw that some cars were fighting and I was saying, please, don’t touch, don’t do anything bad. Luckily, nothing did happen and we won the race.”
Worst conditions of the entire weekend
Fornaroli explained that track grip was much lower than the day before. This led him to focus on improving his out-lap to avoid losing time. While he admitted he could’ve pushed more, the Italian chose not to take risks. Ultimately, he brought the tyres up to temperature just in time to keep Staněk at bay.
Fornaroli said: “Yeah, as I said before, the conditions were still not good. The grip was a lot lower compared to yesterday. So, I knew I had to work in my out lap compared to the previous races because I was losing a bit too much time.”
“So, I think I slightly improved on that. Maybe I could have done something a little bit better, but I really didn’t want to risk. But, yeah, at the end of the week, I managed to bring the tyres [to the right temperatures] before Roman [Staněk] was catching me a lot. And then I was able to stay there.”
Momentum between breaks
As the series heads into the Summer break, there’s nearly a month until racing resumes. With just four rounds remaining, the gaps between events will begin to stretch. When asked about maintaining momentum through these longer breaks, Fornaroli highlighted the importance of taking time to reset. Still, he noted that preparations will soon resume with simulator work ahead of the next round in Monza.
“Well, for sure, some relax because you need some time off sometimes. But the week before Monza, we’ll be back in the simulator to prepare everything as much as we could.”
