Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Leonardo Fornaroli says his victory in Formula 2’s sprint race at Silverstone was a “weight lifted” as he ended a four-year winless streak.
It was only the second win of the 20-year-old Italian’s single-seater career, with the first coming in an Italian Formula 4 race at Misano in June 2021.
He picked up five second places in F4 later that year, went podium-free in Formula Regional in 2022 then spent two years in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. His rookie season featured three podiums, and the seven of his sophomore campaign delivered him the title. Before last weekend, he had already finished second three times in F2.
“It feels good, I’m very happy,” the Invicta Racing driver told Formula Scout in the paddock after his sprint race success.
“It is a little bit like a weight lifted. It’s taken a bit of time, it gives me a lot more confidence but it’s more relief than anything.”
By finishing sixth in the feature race the next day, Fornaroli left Silverstone fourth in the standings and 18 points off the championship lead. He deems that gap “still a bit too much” to think about the title.
Fornaroli had reversed-grid pole for the sprint race, and was “quite confident” he would be able to convert that into victory.
“It wasn’t a very good start, and Kush [Maini] passed me. Then I said ‘no, please! I have to regain that P1’. We fight quite a bit going into T7, and then luckily I managed to repass him then,” he told media including Formula Scout.
“There was no safety car, so it was like a qualifying race. I knew I had to have a nice gap to the P2 guy before the big DRS zones, otherwise they were going to pass me.
“So it was fun, and very happy about the tyre management and everything. Because I was able to drive in good conditions at the end, to be able to fight with Sebastian [Montoya]. It was quite close. We were pushing like crazy. Very satisfied about today.”
Fornaroli said he “knew the pace was good” entering the race having adjusted “quite a lot of things” after going 10th fastest in qualifying. It was key for him to extract that pace early when passing Maini, and late on when Montoya was closing in.
“Mid-race I saw Kush dropping back, and then like five, six laps to go, Seb overtook him. He was looking quite strong, so I said ‘okay, it’s time to push’. And luckily, I was in good condition with the tyres. So I was able to remain in front of him.”
While it was “very satisfying to now finally have a win in F2″, Fornaroli said “it will not change much” for him going forward bar “a little boost of confidence”.
Additional reporting by Alejandro Alonso Lopez and Ida Wood