Leonardo Fornaroli has won the 2025 Formula 2 title before the championship even headed to Abu Dhabi, thanks to second place in the Qatar feature race.
Polesitter Fornaroli was passed by Victor Martins at the start as the Frenchman took a swift getaway, but shadowed the ART racer throughout the contest as a mid-race safety car intervention scuppered the chances of the drivers on the alternate hard/soft strategy.
Fornaroli needed a 40-point buffer to be crowned as early as Sunday, which required not only a strong result from the Invicta driver but also for his rivals to underperform.
He couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. His closest rival Jak Crawford spent the race in the second half of the field, ending up 11th under the chequered flag, while Richard Verschoor and Luke Browning, who were also in contention, could do no better than sixth and 10th.
Fornaroli’s consistency proved to be the key in 2025 as the Italian rookie, who will celebrate his 21st birthday on Wednesday, finished 23 out of 25 races in the top eight. The remaining two occurrences were late-race retirements that were out of his control.
This remarkable regularity, contrasting with his rivals’ ups and downs, meant Fornaroli took the lead of the championship at Spa-Francorchamps in July and has never dropped the ball since.
Back in 2024, Fornaroli had won the Formula 3 title without a single victory to his name.
“I wasn't frustrated at all,” Fornaroli told Motorsport in August. “Because consistency is the key in feeder series now, because the level is so high that doing points every race can actually put you in contention for the title. Also, I didn't need to win a race to win the title.
“Actually, winning the title without any race wins taught me how to stay calm and composed under huge pressure – because the pressure is there, because you are a championship contender. I just put myself in the best position for the main goal. At the end, I did it on my own and I achieved that.”
This time, he kept his composure again, and got it all: an unshakeable presence in the points-scoring positions, and four race victories to prove that he’s quick enough to win too.
Yet, Fornaroli’s future is up in the air, with F1’s doors remaining closed to him for 2026.
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