Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli enters the final two rounds of the F2 Championship 19 points clear of Jak Crawford. After securing the 2024 Formula 3 title, he now aims to become only the third driver to achieve back-to-back F3 and F2 Championships. With two rounds remaining, he intends to collect as many points as possible and maintain his strong momentum. He recognises that his season has been largely positive.
Reflecting on his season and areas for improvement
Fornaroli won the F3 title without taking a victory, but this year he has claimed multiple wins. Although he feels satisfied with his performances, he remains aware of areas where he could have done better.
“It was a positive first half of the season. We were able to finally achieve some wins which was a nice feeling. I’m happy about our performances but from my side, I could have done some things better and avoided some mistakes, but I think that’s quite normal.
“We missed out on opportunities earlier in the season, like in Bahrain, but you can’t be perfect every weekend, it’s normal to make mistakes. But now we are in a very good position, and we go into the final rounds, and I will be giving my best. The goal now is to be consistent and score points, like I did last year.”
Adapting to a new team environment
This season marks the first time Fornaroli has worked with a non-Italian team. His move to Invicta Racing brought uncertainty, but the atmosphere quickly exceeded all expectations. He describes the motivation within the team and his relationship with his teammate as strong and supportive.
“Before this year, I’d only worked with Italian teams, so going into this year, I didn’t know what to expect, but I love it here. Since the first day though I’ve felt amazing. It’s a pleasure to work with Invicta and the atmosphere within the team is amazing. They’ve really worked well with me this year and given me the right motivation to compete, even if you have a bad weekend or make mistakes.
Being paired with Roman Staněk has proved beneficial for the 20-year-old.
“That’s the right way to do things and with Roman as my teammate, I think it’s been great. He has been very good as a teammate because he’s experienced, very quick and I’ve been able to learn lots of things from him.”
Support and inspiration from Gabriel Bortoleto
Fornaroli has followed a similar path to his friend Gabriel Bortoleto, who moved from TRIDENT in F3 to immediate title contention with Invicta in F2. Bortoleto secured consecutive F3 and F2 titles, a feat Fornaroli now seeks to replicate.
“Since last year, I’ve tried to follow what Gabriel did. He won F3 and then F2 in successive seasons. I will try to follow his footsteps in F2 now. He’s a nice guy, he’s given me advice and been kind with me and his time.
“We stay in touch, less than when we were teammates because he’s in F1 now, but we still see each other every now and again. He was there to congratulate me on my first win and I’m happy for him with how well he’s doing in F1.”
Chasing consistency in F2 campaign
Fornaroli’s F3 Championship reached a dramatic conclusion in 2024. He secured the title only on the final lap of the final race at Monza. He describes that race as pure chaos.
“That experience helps because it prepares you for every kind of situation. In race two at Monza last year, everything that could happen did happen. It was crazy. Coming out of that situation helped me a lot.”
“To have that kind of experience helps because it prepares you for every kind of situation that might happen. I think race two in Monza last year, everything that could happen did happen. It was crazy. To come out of that situation has helped me a lot. The most important thing for me now is the consistency. Every driver that is a title contender has been consistent. Wins, podiums, points.
Although his F3 title came without a victory, he now combines consistent scoring with podiums and wins. He aims to secure a few more victories but refuses to set unrealistic goals. He believes that reliability remains the key to the championship.
“It would be nice to achieve a few more wins before the end of the year but I don’t want to go too crazy in setting goals. The important thing is to fight for the top positions, even if you don’t get the wins. Now, having achieved some wins, it’s a nice feeling, but it’s now about my own personal achievement.
Fornaroli now focuses on working closely with his team, correcting previous mistakes, and developing himself as a complete driver. His goal is to score as many points as possible and maintain consistency to carry his title challenge to the finish.
“I will be working with the team as much as possible, learning from past mistakes and trying to grow more as a driver in general, because you have to be complete to be successful. I will try to score as many points and be consistent, learn from my mistakes and we will see.”
