Fornaroli wins F3 championship in unique way: 'I was just more consistent'
Interview
- Ludo van Denderen
Imagine: A driver becomes a F1 world champion without winning a single Grand Prix. Imagine if that driver were to become world champion in Formula One when they had failed to win a single race for three consecutive seasons. Sounds incredible? It would be so. But in Formula 3, Leonardo Fornaroli did something similar. He took the title without winning a single race. His last win was in Formula 4, back in 2021.
Fornaroli, besides that win in FIA Central European Zone Formula 4, also won once in the Italian F4. That was the entire record of the Italian, who did however secure the title in Formula 3 last week. "This season reminds me a bit, 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," Fornaroli told GPblog among others.
"So every time finishing P2, helped me to take the title. I think I had two, or three great chances to win races. The first one is Melbourne. Unfortunately, in qualifying, I had a set of tyres that was not working well. So we had to take another one that was for Race 2. I started on used tyres compared to the others, and Dino (Beganovic), from mid-race to the end, was just quicker than me. But anyway, P2 was still good," he continued.
"Imola is the second. I mean, the pace was amazing. We got a 1-2-3 with Trident. I didn’t have, also there, new tyres. But pace was super good. When Oliver [Goethe] got past me on the straight, I went a bit more on the right compared to the other times, and took a path on the straight didn’t know it was there, and the car completely switched off, and lost three positions again. Yeah, that was another great chance," the F3 champion explained.
The Italian also wanted to get his victory in Monza. "It was going to be amazing taking the title with a win."
Fornaroli in Formula 1?
By winning the title, Fornaroli has at least put himself in the spotlight, perhaps even with F1 teams. Unlike a lot of his colleagues, the Italian - who will compete for Invicta in F2 next season - is not contracted to an F1 academy. "I don’t know if they are interested in me. I still dream of any offers. But I think this is a big plus for the future. I really hope to join Formula 1 soon but it will be hard, and I don’t want to give up, and (I will) continue like this," Fornaroli told reporters answering a question by GPblog.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!