F2 – British Grand Prix – Sprint: Fornaroli finally takes his first F2 victory
Leonardo Fornaroli took his first Formula 2 victory at the Silverstone sprint race, ending a four-year wait. The Invicta Racing Italian won ahead of Sebastián Montoya and teammate Roman Staněk, in a race marked by the retirement of Alex Dunne following a tangle with Gabriele Minì.
Leonardo Fornaroli finally secured his first victory in Formula 2 during the sprint race at Silverstone, four years after his last success in single-seaters. The Italian from Invicta Racing withstood the attacks from Sebastián Montoya to win ahead of his teammate Roman Stanek, delivering a one-two finish for his team.
A disrupted departure
The English weekend started poorly for Dino Beganovic. The Hitech driver, who was supposed to start third, stalled even before the formation lap and was forced to start from the pits. This technical failure reshuffled the deck right from the start.
Fornaroli, who secured pole position, lost the lead at the green light. Kush Maini, starting second, took the advantage at Abbey and led the race in the initial hectometers. But the Italian quickly responded. Exiting Woodcote, in a bold maneuver towards Copse, he regained the lead and never relinquished it.
Behind, chaos quickly ensued. Richard Verschoor, the championship leader, dropped from fourth to tenth place. Alex Dunne, second in the overall standings, also had a poor start and found himself in eleventh, grappling with Gabriele Mini.
The incident that changed everything
The duel between Dunne and Mini turned into a drama in the sixth round. The Irishman locked the wheels in Farm Curve, leaving the opportunity for the Italian to attack him on the outside at the Loop. Contact was inevitable. Mini hit Dunne’s Rodin, causing a puncture that forced the Irishman to retire.
The commissioners quickly issued Mini a ten-second penalty for causing the collision. This off-track incident disrupted the championship hierarchy, depriving Dunne of valuable points in his battle for the title.
Fornaroli widens the gap
In the lead, Fornaroli perfectly managed his race. By the thirteenth lap, he had widened the gap enough to get out of Maini’s DRS zone. The Indian then found himself under threat from Montoya, who was gaining momentum.
The Colombian from Prema wasted no time. On the fifteenth lap, he took advantage of the slipstream on the pit straight to overtake Maini at Stowe. The Indian lost a precious place and was quickly caught up by the pack.
Montoya inherited second place with a 1.9-second gap behind Fornaroli. Enough to hope for a comeback, but the leader withstood the Colombian’s attacks in the final laps.
A tumultuous end to the race
The final laps provided their share of twists and turns. Stanek overtook Maini on the outside at Stowe to get on the podium, in a contentious maneuver where the Czech seemed to have gone off track limits. The stewards decided not to intervene.
Further along, Victor Martins and Luke Browning engaged in a fierce battle for seventh place. At the exit of Woodcote, contact was inevitable. Browning, attempting to pass on the outside, got squeezed and collided with the Frenchman. Martins lost several places while the Briton continued with a damaged front wing.
At the last corner, Oliver Goethe collided with Pepe Martí, sending the Spaniard into a spin in the grass at Club Corner. These late-race incidents reshuffled the points distribution.
A historic success
Fornaroli crossed the finish line 1.4 seconds ahead of Montoya, securing his first victory since June 2021 in Italian Formula 4 at Misano. For the reigning F3 world champion, this success marked a release after months of waiting.
Stanek completed the podium, giving Invicta Racing a one-two finish. Maini held onto fourth place despite pressure from Joshua Duerksen, who himself resisted attacks from Jak Crawford in a thrilling finish. The two men crossed the line separated by only one thousandth of a second.
Browning finished seventh despite his damage, while Verschoor saved his race by securing eighth place and the last point available.
The championship has tightened up.
This victory allowed Fornaroli to climb to second place in the championship with 96 points, reducing his gap to Verschoor to 19 lengths. Dunne’s withdrawal benefited Crawford, who moved up to third place with 91 points, just one point behind the Irishman.
Verschoor maintains the lead in the standings with 115 points, but the gap has closed. With Browning in fifth at 85 points, five drivers are now within 30 points in the championship.
The main race on Sunday promises to be crucial for the rest of the championship, with Martins in pole position and a grid shaken up by the sprint incidents.