With the opening three rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 season complete, Invicta Racing CEO and Team Principal James Robinson has shared his thoughts on rookie F2 driver Leonardo Fornaroli’s transition to the series. Following a championship-winning campaign in FIA Formula 3 last year, Fornaroli has delivered a consistent and competitive start to his Formula 2 career.
Currently third in the Drivers’ Standings with 40 points, Fornaroli has scored in all six races to date. Robinson expressed clear satisfaction with the Italian’s immediate impact.
“Yeah, we have been thoroughly impressed by Leo [Fornaroli]. He has hit the ground running very well. Obviously, he is top rookie in the championship right now, for whatever that means, at this very early stage.”
Qualifying pace signals Fornaroli’s potential
Robinson specifically highlighted Fornaroli’s exceptional qualifying performances, which have quickly established him as one of the 2025 F2 grid’s strongest one-lap specialists. He claimed pole position in Bahrain and followed that up with third in Jeddah. Even though his Melbourne qualifying result placed him tenth for the Feature Race, Robinson pointed to Fornaroli’s early pace as proof of his capability.
“In particular, his qualifying pace has been very impressive. He was on pole in Bahrain, third in Jeddah. And also, he was P1 by almost five-tenths after the first runs in Melbourne. [He] made a mistake on his second run, which resulted in him starting P10 for the Feature, but his one-lap pace is really impressive.”
According to Robinson, Fornaroli has already demonstrated an ability to produce fast laps under pressure—an essential skill for sustained success in Formula 2.
Improvement of race pace a key next step
Despite Fornaroli’s qualifying strength, Robinson noted that the next step in his progression involves converting that speed into sustained race pace and podium results. Thus far, the Italian has claimed only two podium finishes. However, Robinson was quick to emphasise the importance of managing expectations at this early stage in Fornaroli’s rookie campaign.
“He is really able to turn laps very quickly in high-pressure environments, where we are really trying to work on him now is converting that into race pace. But I think we have to manage expectations.”
A measured comparison with Bortoleto
Robinson drew a comparison between 2025 F2 newcomer Fornaroli and 2024 champion Gabriel Bortoleto, who won the title in his rookie season with Invicta Racing. Now competing in Formula 1 with the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, Bortoleto made major gains during the European rounds of the 2024 campaign. While Robinson believes Fornaroli is slightly ahead of where Bortoleto was at the same point in their respective rookie seasons, he cautioned against expecting a similar trajectory.
“You know, if we compare him, and we try not to do this too much, but if we compare him to where he, to where Gabi [Bortoleto] was this time last year, I would say he is actually ahead of the curve. Gabi, though, made a huge, made huge steps forward in the early part of the European season.”
He continued:
“And yeah, so we have to temper expectations. We are certainly not expecting, and we should not have expectations on Leo to have, you know, a middle and second part of the season like Gabi had. I think that is very unusual.”
Invicta Racing could not ask for more from “impressive” Fornaroli
Ultimately, Robinson affirmed Invicta Racing’s confidence in Fornaroli’s abilities and development trajectory. With the European leg of the season about to begin, he believes the Italian is in a strong position to continue learning and delivering results.
“But we are very impressed with him so far and could not really be asking for any more at this stage.”
Fornaroli, alongside his experienced teammate Roman Staněk—now entering his third season in Formula 2—will return to action at the upcoming Imola round. This event marks the beginning of the season’s first triple-header and will likely serve as a crucial phase in Fornaroli’s rookie campaign.
