The reigning FIA Formula 3 Champion, Leonardo Fornaroli will race for the defending FIA Formula 2 Teams Champions in 2025 as the young Italian makes his debut in the series with Invicta Racing. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to win titles in professional motorsport, and we sat down with Leonardo to understand how he keeps a level head while navigating it all, as well as what goes on underneath the visor when a championship is on the line. Find out all that and more as we get to know Invicta Racing in 2025.
Nearly six months on from winning the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, how are you reflecting on it now you’ve had time to think about it?
The key to last season was consistency. While I was his team-mate, I watched Gabriel Bortoleto's 2023 season closely. He won the first two races and then he managed to stay in the top 10 every race. He won the title by a good margin, so I tried to follow him by always staying in the top five or top 10 and collect as many points as possible. Some months have passed now and it still feels good, but it's time to move forward because we have a new challenge this year.
As a racing driver himself, what influence has your father had on your career?
I went to his races but to be 100 per cent honest, at the start I was very young and I wasn't that passionate about motorsport. Something changed when I went to try a go-kart for the first time. It was an easy electric indoor one, but driving alone in the kart, I finally felt free. So, then I decided what I wanted to do in the future because I tried a lot of sports like swimming and basketball, but I was just really bad. I’m very happy I took this road and I must thank my father for that; without him none of this would’ve been possible.
Has your trainer, Gianfranco – AKA maestro – introduced any new physical exercises that are specifically for the challenges of F2?
My training has remained basically the same as last year, mainly because we saw it was very efficient and worked really well. We’ve increased the weights because it’s going to be that bit harder and also more cardio, more running, because the races are longer. Cycling is good but there is always the possibility to injure yourself, so I just go for a run and try and keep my heart rate as low as possible.
Nutrition is an important part of any athlete’s routine and good food is a big part of Italian culture. As an Italian racing driver, do you cook for yourself and do you enjoy that process?
I would like to learn a bit more because right now I can’t do anything crazy, but I love to eat and to cook, and to watch the best chefs at work. My go-to is a tomato pasta like an amatriciana because it’s simple but really good. Once you’ve done it five or six times it’s easy to make it taste nice. I want to learn more sophisticated, complicated stuff.
Maintaining focus is an important aspect of racing for you, did last year and the fact that the title went down to the last corner teach you any new tricks for keeping concentration?
Yes, because the season is very long and anything can happen. After the race at Silverstone, I was 26 points behind the leader with only three races to go. The worst mistake to make in that moment is to think it's over. Motorsport is crazy and anything can happen as we saw in the last three races, then I managed to fight back and win the title. That was a big lesson to never give up and always stay focused.
I had a lot of critical situations last year, but I stayed quite calm and just tried to recover as much as possible. For example, in the two Italian races, Imola and Monza, I had two pivotal moments. At Imola, I was defending the lead and I hit a bump on the straight and the car switched off. Staying calm, I managed to switch it on again and fight back to third.
Then in Monza, I got caught out by the dust and had to cut the Ascari chicane which lost me three positions including one to Gabriele Mini – who was fighting for the title – but I knew the race was long. Monza was obviously the last race of the season so there was a lot more pressure than Imola. With three laps to go I made some mistakes and lost two more positions on the penultimate lap, but I never let it get to me. On the last lap, going into Parabolica, I had nothing to lose. When I went for the move, I was quite calm to be honest, so I think staying calm under pressure is key. It's not easy, of course. You need experience, but that comes with time.
It’s a new team and new championship this year. You obviously had a taste of it at the end of 2024. What are the biggest differences you've noticed from F3 to F2 and your previous teams to this one?
The car is heavier, more power, carbon brakes, bigger tyres. In qualifying, the difference in driving between F3 and F2 is not that much. The difficult part is in the race because the bigger tyres, more weight and more power can cause more degradation and overheating, so it's a bit more difficult to manage everything.
The main difference in teams is that I’m coming from an Italian team to an English team, but they both work in a very professional way. I haven’t noticed many differences yet, but so far I’m really enjoying working with Invicta.
You’ve been in the same team as Roman Stanek before but in different categories, tell us a bit about your new team-mate.
Roman is a very fun guy that works a lot to achieve the best result and always give it everything. I like to spend time with him, we’ve done some fun things together so it’s really nice to have him as a team-mate this year.
READ MORE: Getting to know Roman Stanek
You said you took a similar approach to your friend Gabriel Bortoleto to win the F3 title. Are you going to try and replicate what he did with Invicta Racing in F2 as well? And has he given you any advice on how to navigate this series?
He won the title, so he did all the right things. I’ll try to follow him, but also to concentrate on myself and to not repeat the mistakes I made last year. We spoke a bit before my race in Abu Dhabi and he gave me some tips on the track and the car, so he’s helped me a bit already.
Is there a specific area you noticed from your first F2 race – like the race pace you worked on last year – that you want to focus and improve on ahead of this season?
It was the first weekend so naturally there were a lot of things to improve. Qualifying was not too bad actually; I was quite happy. I was just lacking confidence in some corners, so that was where I was losing the most time. In the races, I want to work on tyre management a bit, the pit stops, warming the brakes and the start.
There are a few tracks you haven't been to on calendar: Jeddah, Baku and Qatar. Which of those circuits are you most looking forward to driving and why?
I’m really looking forward to Jeddah and Baku. Qatar as well, but it’s like some other tracks. The others are both very fast and difficult street circuits, Jeddah in particular looks incredible.
