For the second year in a row, Invicta Racing will have the Formula 3 champion in their driver line-up in Formula 2 in 2025.
This season, the team have had Gabriel Bortoleto in their car, who triumphed over Zak O’Sullivan in Formula 3 the year prior by 45 points.
The Brazilian, who is part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, has been able to take his success from F3 straight into Formula 2, as he currently leads the standings in 2024 with two rounds to go.
Heading into the 2025 campaign, Invicta Racing will again have the F3 champion in their driver line-up, in the form of Leonardo Fornaroli.
Ahead of his move to the team, Fornaroli has been in conversation with Bortoleto as he hopes to learn from the Brazilian and go into F2 as best prepared as possible.
Leonardo Fornaroli says it is ‘important to learn’ from Gabriel Bortoleto how Invicta Racing operates before his F2 debut
Fornaroli completed two seasons in F3 with Trident, debuting in 2023. The Italian finished the year in 11th with one pole position and three podiums.
This season, the 19-year-old found a new gear. Despite not winning a race across the year – or in fact at all in his time in F3 – Fornaroli displayed incredible consistency as he finished every race, with all but two being inside the points.
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Collecting seven podiums across the season, the Italian won the title at the final round at Monza with a final lap pass on Christian Mansell at the final corner to finish third, beating fellow countryman Gabriele Mini to the F3 crown.
Fornaroli has described joining Invicta as a ‘dream come true’ but there will be pressure on him to replicate the success of Bortoleto. Speaking with the F2 website, the Italian shared what the Brazilian told him about the team and how he is eager to learn how they operate.
“I’ve spoken with him, and he’s said the team is super nice and they welcome you. I could end up working with his engineer and he’s said he’s a super nice guy. So now I can’t wait to start working with them,” he said,
“I hope to be in Qatar and Abu Dhabi because I want to do at least one or two races with the team on the ground, just to watch for myself and understand how they work and communicate.
“How they speak on the radio and how the drivers explain their feedback, stuff like that is important to learn.”
Leonardo Fornaroli can ‘lead’ Invicta Racing in Formula 2 next year
Coming into F2 as the F3 champion and to the team that has enjoyed much success in 2024 with the previous champion, all eyes will be on Fornaroli next year to see if he is capable of delivering results with Invicta.
The team are currently leading the Teams’ Championship over Campos Racing by 35.5 points, having secured three wins and 10 podiums between their drivers Bortoleto and Kush Maini.
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Chris McCarthy thinks Fornaroli can ‘lead’ Invicta next season in F2 as he will likely come in as Bortoleto’s replacement. It is not known whether Maini will stay on with the team to be Fornaroli’s teammate.
The pressure will be on the Italian to continue his momentum from F3, but it is clear that Invicta have got a brilliant talent in their for 2025.