Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli added another podium to his tally after he placed P2 in the FIA F2 Monaco GP. The Feature Race was chaotic from start to finish, but some luck and great driving saw the Italian push through. Despite the consistency Fornaroli showed on the streets of Monte Carlo, a Safety car stopped him from claiming his first win.
Leonardo Fornaroli started his race from P3. An unfortunate pile-up during the first lap had everyone under a Red Flag. Yet, with his fast thinking, the Invicta driver avoided the collision. He led the grid at the restart, but lost his P1 victory due to a poorly timed Safety Car. He is currently third in the standings, but the third round of this triple-header could bring Fornaroli his maiden win.
Disappointing turn of events
Despite the consistency he showed throughout the F2 Monaco GP weekend, Fornaroli still missed out. A win in Monte Carlo means a lot to any driver, but especially one from the feeder series, desperate for a victory. During a post-feature press conference attended by Pit Debrief, Leonardo Fornaroli shared his thoughts on this unlucky race:
“Yeah, of course, it’s very, very disappointing to miss the win today. I got lucky in T1 that Alex [Dunne] and Victor [Martins] crashed and [I] didn’t get any damage, and took the lead of the race. Then, when the race started, everything was going well, I was feeling very good with the car. I was just trying to manage everything and don’t do any mistakes and arrive at the pit window with good tyres so I could have pushed properly.
“Then we just got very unlucky with the safety car. It took a whole lap to put the safety car. I tried to slow down also before the pit entry, but I can’t go one kph, and also I didn’t want to get any penalties. And I just got Safety car in T1, or approaching T1, so nothing we can do about it. It’s very disappointing, but it was still a great result, good points, and we look forward.”
As all F2 drivers have to complete at least one pitstop during the race, they make sure to time it perfectly. During Leonardo Fornaroli’s, the driver faced a possible impediment from Campos’s Arvid Lindblad. The stakes were high, but Invicta delivered. However, it was too late as DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford managed to get ahead. The Italian still reflected on his pitstop strategy:
“Of course, it was a super important pit stop. Also, watching what happened in Imola, we got stuck in traffic and lost three positions, so it was very important to have a very good pit and go in front of Seb [Montoya] and Arvid [Lindblad], and luckily we did so. In the pit stop, everything was amazing, but unfortunately, we were already in P2. But, I will take it.”
Letting frustrations go
Seeing as there is another race in this European triple-header, Fornaroli must bounce quickly from this F2 Monaco GP experience. The Invicta driver admitted that himself, hoping for better results in Spain:
“Yeah. I needed this result also after Imola with a very unlucky race too, so it’s nice to have good points now, and now I will try my best to achieve also other good results in Barcelona.”
Nevertheless, disappointment continued to linger in the air for the Italian. The timing of the last Safety car proved to be his demise, and Fornaroli analysed the whole incident. He pointed out his frustrations, but in the end, decided to let the decision from the Stewards be:
“Yes, because it was quite clear there was a crash, barriers were damaged, so maybe they could have put the safety car earlier, but I’m not the race director. I’m not taking this decision. Probably they did the best for the situation. I don’t know. I’m not in that race director room, so I can’t know these kind of things.”
Avoiding the chaos of Monaco
The race incident at the beginning of the Feature Race caused all the teams to review their strategies. While drivers were piling up in that big crash, Fornaroli reacted quickly and avoided the mess in Turn 1 of the F2 Monaco GP. He harnessed all the knowledge of both of his competitors in order to predict their moves:
“Well, I think I was just at the right place at the right time. I knew that both of them are very aggressive drivers. Victor [Martins] had a very good start, went on the outside of Alex [Dunne], and I know Alex was not going to give up, so I said okay, chill, maybe they can crash into the wall.
“As soon as they touched, I didn’t know what to do because I was thinking, “Are they gonna come back on track or go straight into the wall?”. And then, as I saw they were going straight, I just prepared a mega exit, and I luckily escaped the crash.”
In response to a question from Pit Debrief, Fornaroli admitted his thoughts were never on an early stop. He wanted to race for as much as possible on the Monte Carlo circuit:
“No, no, I was just hoping to go until the end, but without any safety coverage or safety car. Just a clean race. Probably didn’t go in our way, but it was a good race. I enjoyed a lot driving in Monaco. Such an amazing place, so I’m happy.
Moreover, the Invicta Racing driver gave a quick overview of how the team’s tactics did not change after the race stoppage:
“We were thinking with my engineer to change it, but then we stick to the original plan”
Focusing on the future
All is said and done at the F2 Monaco GP, and now Fornaroli needs to prep for next week’s race in Barcelona. The Italian explained the process of preparing for such a demanding triple-header:
“Before Imola, we did sim for both Imola and Monaco, and then in two days I will be again in the sim for preparing Barcelona. You never stop, but I like that. I love racing. So, you know, it’s my life. I’m pushing so much to achieve the best results in runs, so I like working out.”
Whilst Leonardo Fornaroli showed incredible consistency so far, his efforts were not rewarded. However, he will keep pushing and learning from every race, all in order to achieve that desired P1:
“Of course, as I said before, right now, yeah, it’s disappointing not to achieve this win. I don’t know. There was nothing we could do, so happy with second place. Of course, I’m learning a lot during this first phase of the season. Also, last year, where I was fighting for a championship for the first time. So, I will use everything to achieve good results in the future.”
