The junior ranks are full of race-winning talent with egos boosted by a lifetime of victories in karting and entry-level single-seater categories. By the time drivers reach Formula 3, the wheat begins to be separated from the chaff, with only 30 spaces available each year to continue the climb to the tantalisingly close prospect of an F1 drive.
Comparing CVs and looking purely at achievements prior to the season, Leonardo Fornaroli was perhaps not a name that you would have predicted to finish at the top of the championship. His two wins from 98 single-seater races – both coming in F4 competition in 2021 – three pole positions and 15 podiums didn't appear to be the resume of a driver that would be mixing it with the best of his peers.
Oh, how wrong we were.
What had very much gone under the radar was the Italian’s consistency and increasing ability to reach the chequered flag without incident. He finished every single race he contested in Formula Regional European during his 2022 rookie season, only failed to see the flag once when he stepped up to F3 last year and had a perfect finishing record during the campaign just completed.
Then there was his points-scoring prowess. In the first eight races of his FRECA career, Fornaroli failed to score in four outings. But in the following 12 races, he registered points on all but one occasion. This trend continued last year in F3, remaining with Trident, when he scored in 11 of 18 races on his way to placing 11th in the standings – not a terrible return for a rookie.
This term, he failed to score only twice. Placing 11th in the Imola sprint and 12th in the Red Bull Ring sprint (from the 24th on the grid, comfortably his worst grid position) were the occasions he failed to add to his eventual tally of 153 points.
“This season reminds me a bit of the season two years ago in Formula Regional when I took the rookie title without any rookie wins because I was just more consistent than the others so was all the time finishing in P2 and managed to take the title,” said the 19-year-old after securing the title in dramatic fashion with a final-lap pass on Christian Mansell - before chief rival Gabriele Mini's disqualification increased his points buffer to 23.
“I had two or three good chances to win races. The first one was Melbourne. Unfortunately, in qualifying, I had a set of tyres which was not working well, so we had to take another one that was for race two, so I started on used tyres compared to the others and then Dino [Beganovic] from mid-race to the end was just quicker than me. But P2 was still good.
“Imola is the second. The pace was amazing and we got a one-two-three with Trident. I didn’t have new tyres there but things were super good. When Ollie Goethe passed me on the straight, I went a bit more to the right than on the other times and took a bump on the straight that I didn’t know was there and the car completely switched off and I lost three positions again. That was another great chance.
“On Sunday, unfortunately, I didn’t take the win. It was going to be amazing taking the title without a win. I will analyse the race to see what I did wrong to not repeat it in the future.”
"Now that the adrenaline has run down, I’ve started to realise that Sunday’s race wasn’t perfect. I will look at it all to try to improve for the future"
Leonardo Fornaroli
Asked if there had been a moment when he consciously put the championship ahead of individual race wins, Fornaroli added: “I think after Silverstone, I said ‘OK, now to get back on top I need to be always there, even if I’m not going to win [races]’. That was the main point of the season when I completely switched my mindset.”
But while it is easy to laud the sheer consistency that Fornaroli has been able to display across the season, there will be those who question whether he has the extra edge, the extra tenth-of-a-second that separates the good drivers from the truly great.
Having gained his promotion to F2 for 2025 with Invicta, the same team that is currently fielding 2023 F3 champion and F2 title challenging Gabriel Bortoleto, there will be pressure to quickly prove that he can come out on top in a single event. After all, winning a championship without a single victory is very much like lightning – it does not strike twice.
To his credit, Fornaroli was the first to concede this notion as he repeatedly stated his eagerness to analyse where things could have gone better and how he could avoid repeating mistakes. When asked if the lack of a race win carried significance for him, he reflected: “Of course, now I care less, but now that the adrenaline has run down, I’ve started to realise that Sunday’s race wasn’t perfect. I will look at it all to try to improve for the future to try to take the first win in these categories.”
Among the 12 different drivers who won races in 2024, closest challenger Mini took the flag once, while Luke Browning finished third with two wins and Arvid Lindblad fourth after claiming four victories. The only other drivers to finish in the top 12 without a victory were Mansell (fifth) and Noel Leon (tenth).
Fornaroli added: “I’m the only driver at the front that hasn’t had a win, as you said, and this demonstrates that I am more consistent than the others. So even if Luke, Arvid and Gabi had more wins than me, I managed to be more consistent than them, especially in the last three rounds and finish in front of them.”
This season then was somewhat of a peculiarity then. Was Fornaroli the fastest on the grid? Arguably not, even if he was one of only two drivers (along with Browning) to take pole more than once. But was he able to string a consistent stand of strong weekends together with fewer mistakes than anyone else? Yes.
While he may look with some envy at the growing trophy cabinets of some of his rivals, make no mistake, there will be 30 drivers in F3 and 21 in F2 next year who will have studied every second of what Fornaroli has done this season. It wasn’t the points taken that won Fornaroli his F3 crown, but the lack of points dropped. That is a lesson that all junior drivers can take from this most certainly, deserving champion.
