Without exception, all drivers and teams, regardless of motorsport category, will say every year that consistency is their main goal. Yes, we also talk about title aspirations, but everyone knows that scoring points in every race is crucial to have any hope of fighting for first place.
However, it is very rare for a driver to take this as far as he did. Leonardo Fornaroli in the this season. The pilot of Trident He won the title with an overtake on the final corner of the final lap at Monza, which marked his seventh podium finish of the campaign, before a final decision by the stewards after the race gave him a more comfortable margin at the classification.
Fornaroli has been on the third step of the podium five times in 2024 and on two occasions – including this Monza race – he finished second. But surprisingly, For the first time in F3 history, the champion has not reached the top step even once.
This is how Fornaroli He established himself on a grid which has seen up to 12 different winners in 20 races. Zero retirements and only two races outside the points meant he scored points more times than any other driver. The one that came closest was Olivier Goethede Campos, who missed last weekend to replace Franco Colapinto in F2, with five races (including Monza) without points.
After being asked more and more frequently as the season progressed when he was going to win a race, Fornaroli smiles in interview with Motorsport.com: “Now that I have won the championship, I don't mind not winning any races. But it would have been even better with one or two victories.”
“I actually had a few opportunities, but we were unlucky. The first one was in Melbourne, because one set of tires in qualifying wasn't working well and vibrating quite a bit, so we had to put one on other and We started the main race with used tires, when perhaps we could have won with new tires,” he recalls.
Fornaroli was never at the top level, but he won the last prize of the season.
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“Also, in Imola we had a great chance to win, but we all know what happened: the car stopped on the straight because of a pothole and we lost a lot of time. But we still came third.”
“The last one was Monza. I think without what happened at Ascari [cuando cometió un error y se fue a la grava]there was also a good chance of winning. But anyway, we won the most important victory, so at the moment I don't care,” he added.
Upon your arrival in Monza for the last weekend of the course, one of the six drivers could have won the title. But Fornaroli, Gabriele Mini (Prema) and Luke Browning (Hitech), separated by just six units before the weekend, were the only candidates with more than a mathematical hope of glory.
This caused a peculiar statistic for F3 in the modern era, as no champion driver took a victory in the final round of the season. This record extends even to the GP3 era, before the formation of the current F3 in 2019, that is to say until 2013, when the champion of the time He reached the podium in the first of two races in Abu Dhabi.
Fornaroli's chances of ending that streak looked bright after qualifying, as he took pole for the main race. This meant he would start 12th in the sprint race, on a partially reversed grid, but he found himself among a group of drivers penalized for unnecessarily slow driving in qualifying and was relegated to 16th position.
What followed was a champion racein which he recovered eighth position and achieved the fastest lap. After starting two places ahead, Mini was only ninth. Browning finished sixth, but could only start 13th in the main race and spun, leading to an Italian duel for the crown.
However, things seemed to be going against Fornaroli, who suffered heavy tire wear after going off the track at Ascari. It all led to an exciting final lap of the year, the 19-year-old recalls: “Before the last lap, I asked my engineer if I was still champion being fourth, and they asked me says 'no, now you're one point behind Gabriele, so you have to pass Chris (Mansell), who's in front of you.'”
Fornaroli battled with Alex Dunne for the lead early on in the Monza finale before retiring and having to fight for third, which became second with Mini's disqualification.
Photo: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“It was like a bucket of cold water, because starting from a very good position, I was going to lose the championship in a very bad way. So I said 'okay, I'm going to have to invent something thing.'” Up front, they started to fight a bit in T1, so I made up a bit of the gap that I had lost on the penultimate lap. I tried the first move into the second chicane, but my front tires were destroyed. He had blocked, we both cut the chicane and I gave him the position again.”
“The main objective was to get a very good start from Lesmo 2 and I got it. But at the Ascari chicane I knew it was the last chance because in the last corner it's very difficult to overtake .”
“He defended very well, so I couldn't get it. And then, in the last corner, I said: 'I can't lose him, I'm losing the championship, this can't be real .' a lot of things were going through my mind, but especially the image of losing the championship.
“So I said, 'Okay, I have to do something.' I prayed they wouldn't cover my insides, but luckily they got back to the sweet spot before the braking point. I knew it was last chance, everyone or nothing.
“I sent him inside. Fortunately, Chris saw me and gave me space. He was very correct, and we managed to regain the title and the podium in the last corner of the When I crossed the finish line, all the pressures I had were gone and I was the happiest man in the world.”
In the end, this was unnecessary, as Mini was disqualified for taking tire pressures below the prescribed minimum limits, and Fornaroli moved up to second place behind the winner. Sami Méguetounifwas questionable. When asked how loud his outburst was on team radio, Fornaroli responded: “I thought I was going to have a heart attack!
“We were all screaming really loud and when I got out of the car we were all jumping together. But it was a special moment for all of us. Plus, Trident had two consecutive driver champions, so that was amazing. I think that it was also incredible. From the outside, I think it was the best race of the year.
Fornaroli thought 'he was going to have a heart attack' while celebrating his victory
Photo: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
An inspiring figure in Fornaroli's rise has been the former F3 champion, current F2 leader and Sauber driver in from 2025, . The Brazilian won F3 in 2023 with Trident, like Fornaroli, and .
“The goal was to be constantly in the points because, looking at his season last year, he won the first two races and then he finished in the points in almost every race and won the title with a lot of difference. [45 puntos] compared to the second”, he explains. “The objective was to always be there without attacking too much or making stupid mistakes or colliding with other drivers in the race.
And he adds: “We are very good friends. I am very happy when things go well for him and he is happy when things go well for me. I took inspiration from him this year to achieve this result and he spoke highly of Invicta this season.so we worked hard to try to reach them and, ultimately, we succeeded. Now I'm going to try to do like him next year because he's having a truly incredible run.”
Unlike many of his lower echelon peers, Fornaroli not yet linked to any F1 young driver programalthough his status as champion has led to the start of conversations with more than one team.
Looking ahead to his rookie season in F2, Fornaroli is hoping to repeat the same consistency that has given him such good results in F3 this year and has gained confidence from the performances of his teammates promoted to F2 in Baku.
“For me, consistency is the most important thing if you want to get good results in the drivers' standings,” he says. “Given the results this year, I'm going to try to get there and be competitive from the start. But we'll see.”
“Also, considering what the other F3 drivers (Chris, Luke and Gabriele) did in Baku, they were very fast from the start. So now I have more motivation for next year,” he said. he concluded.
Fornaroli will drive for the powerful and successful Invicta Racing in F2 next year
Photo: Invicta Virtuosi Racing
