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Invicta Racing celebrated a landmark weekend at the Temple of Speed, as Leonardo Fornaroli delivered a historic home victory in Saturday’s Sprint Race while Roman Stanek showed podium-worthy pace in Sunday’s Feature Race.
Monza lived up to its reputation for producing one of the most frenetic Qualifying sessions of the season, and from the start, track position proved to be critical. Roman Staněk was quick to take to the circuit, with Leonardo Fornaroli following shortly after.
Roman’s opening push lap of 1:32.867 was good enough for P3 while Leonardo slotted into P6, just 0.126 seconds adrift of his team-mate. Just as the duo were set to improve further, however, the session was paused due to separate stoppages for Gabriel Mini and Cian Shields.
Running quickly resumed with 17 minutes remaining, and Roman and Leonardo immediately returned to the track. The times started to tumble and Roman successfully lowered his benchmark by 0.113 seconds to stay inside the top five.
Leonardo, however, suffered an early setback to the weekend as his session came to a premature end, with a technical issue forcing him to stop in the third sector during his next push lap.
This left Roman as Invicta Racing’s final Qualifying challenger, but due to a third Red Flag in the closing moments, the session was not resumed. This left Roman in P3 while Leonardo’s earlier benchmark awarded him with P9.
2025 Formula 2 MONZA Qualifying RESULTS
Roman Stanek: P3 (1:32.754)
Leonardo Fornaroli: P8 (1:32.993)
The top 10 from Friday’s Qualifying session was reversed for Saturday’s Sprint Race, meaning that Leonardo started from P3 while Roman lined up P8.
From the second row, Leonardo made an immediate impact, sweeping past Sami Meguetounif into Turn 4 to take P2 on the opening lap, while Roman also made progress to slot into P7.
A spin into the gravel for Kush Maini triggered an early Safety Car which neutralised the field at the start of Lap 2, although racing action quickly resumed on Lap 5.
Dialled in at the restart, Leonardo immediately went on the offensive and, spying a chance to snatch the lead, dived around the outside of Dino Beganovic into Turn 1.
A front-right lock-up forced Leonardo to run straight on but after dropping back behind the Swede he quickly regrouped, closed in, and attempted to overtake into Turn 1 again on Lap 8, this time snatching the lead.
After running deep into the first corner and slipping to P8, Roman was on the move and slotted into the top five following an incident between Meguetounif and Alex Dunne and a separate spin for Oliver Goethe.
The Virtual Safety Car made a brief appearance on Lap 18 when Max Esterson suffered an engine blowout and, at the restart, Richard Verschoor edged past Roman, dropping him to P6.
At the front, Leonardo comfortably controlled the pace to claim a confident victory – his fourth of the season, and the first home win for an Italian driver at Monza in FIA Formula 2 since 2017.
A post-race penalty for Beganovic ensured a double Invicta Racing top five finish in the Sprint Race, with Roman returning to P5.
2025 Formula 2 MONZA Sprint Race RESULTS
Leonardo Fornaroli: P1 (10 points)
Roman Stanek: P5 (4 points)
Following a promising performance in the Sprint Race, hopes were high on Sunday. Roman made a strong getaway from the second row of the grid to hold P3 off the line, while Leonardo was shuffled back to P11 after running deep into Turn 4.
The Italian immediately set out on his recovery, however, and climbed into the top 10 on Lap 2 when Maini was forced into the gravel before dispatching Jak Crawford for P9.
From here, his charge only continued – although light front wing damage following side-to-side contact with Victor Martins on Lap 3 added to the challenge.
At the front, Roman continued to grain ground when the pit window opened on Lap 7 and the Czech racer moved up to second when Goethe boxed from the lead.
One lap later, a crash for Alex Dunne at Ascari brought out the Safety Car and prompted both Invicta Racing drivers to pit for fresh tyres. Roman rejoined in P2 with Leonardo in P10.
Racing resumed on Lap 11, but Roman’s podium hopes ended abruptly when Arvid Lindblad locked up into Turn 1 and ran straight into his path, eliminating him from the race.
A second Safety Car followed and Leonardo moved into the top five before a third caution period was triggered when Meguetounif also ran deep into Turn 1.
When the action got back underway on Lap 17’s restart, Leonardo pressured Pepe Martí and Rafael Villagómez, but a lock up into the first corner allowed Crawford to slip ahead.
Regaining his momentum, Leonardo closed back in and used DRS to overtake the American on Lap 20, before consolidating his momentum to chase down the battle for the podium.
On the final lap, Leonardo continued a late attack for fourth but eventually held position to take fifth place and score 10 points – maintaining his lead in the FIA Formula 2 Drivers’ Championship.
2025 Formula 2 monza FEATURE Race RESULTS
Leonardo Fornaroli: P5 (10 points)
Roman Stanek: DNF (0 points)
LEONARDO FORNAROLI
“To win at home in Monza, the circuit where I won the FIA Formula 3 title last year, is an incredible feeling – I don’t really have the words for it. In the Sprint Race we pieced together a very strong performance, and to do it in front of my home crowd makes it even more special. Our Feature Race was slightly more difficult, but after a tough start, we stayed focused and fought our way back into the top five. Most importantly, we continued to score points for the championship. I’m proud of what the team and I achieved this weekend, and I’m looking forward to Baku.”
READ MORE: Getting to know Leonardo Fornaroli
ROMAN STANEK
“Overall, the weekend has been very promising for us. The Sprint Race was very enjoyable with lots of overtaking and good racing. Of course, Sunday was very disappointing with the incident that ended our race, especially as we were in such a good position. But that’s racing sometimes, and we showed our pace across the weekend. At this stage of the season, we are showing that we are consistently in the fight at the front, and that gives me a lot of confidence heading into the final rounds of the season.”
READ MORE: Getting to know Roman Stanek
JAMES ROBINSON, TEAM PRINCIPAL
“Monza has been another important weekend for Invicta Racing, highlighted by Leonardo’s victory in Saturday’s Sprint Race – a win which carries big significance for him, the team, and his home fans. Roman also showed strong pace throughout the weekend, and without the contact in the Feature Race, I’m confident he would have been in the battle for the win. Both drivers are performing at a very high level, and our sustained points scoring run underlines the consistency we’ve built together. With just a handful of rounds to go, we’re in a strong position in both championships, and we’ll continue to push until the end.”
READ MORE: Getting to know James Robinson
2025 Formula 2 STANDINGS
Invicta Racing: P1 (255 points)
Leonardo Fornaroli: P1 (174 points)
Roman Stanek: P8 (81 points)
READ MORE: See the full FIA Formula 2 2025 Standings
CIRCUIT: BAKU CITY CIRCUIT
ROUND: 12
DATE: 19-21 SEPTEMBER
READ MORE: Where to watch F2 in 2025
