Robinson hails ‘fantastic’ day as Invicta seal 1-2 in Budapest Qualifying

Invicta Racing became the first team since PREMA Racing at Spa-Francorchamps in 2023 to seal a 1-2 in Qualifying, with Roman Stanek leading Leonardo Fornaroli in Budapest.

The Czech driver achieved his maiden Formula 2 Pole Position with a 1:28.779, but had to watch on from the pitlane as his teammate looked to beat his time.

However, Fornaroli, who completed his lap later than the rest of the field, crossed the line to go to second, finishing 0.146s off Stanek’s time. Reflecting on it all, Invicta Racing Team Principal James Robinson was full of praise for the performances of his drivers.

QUALIFYING: Stanek leads Invicta Racing 1-2 as he outduels Fornaroli to take pole in Budapest

“It’s a great day for the team,” said Robinson. “Fantastic to have first and second. Both drivers did a brilliant job. We went for a different strategy, we put Leo on a slightly different plan to everyone else.

“Having a lap deleted for track limits at the end of the first run was not ideal, and maybe he was a little bit conservative on the second run, and then ultimately, the final lap as well, but both have done well in the end, so we take it.

“But it's mega, it’s brilliant. This is a really important part of the season. We are coming to the end of a condensed patch of races and after this weekend we have the summer break and then we are into the home stretch of the season.

“So having a good weekend here is really important for momentum going into the summer break.”

Stanek’s pole comes off the back of a weekend at Spa in which he inherited victory of the Feature Race, after Fornaroli took the win in the Sprint.

It means the 21-year-old came to Budapest having scored points in five of the last six races, a huge step up in results after only achieving four points finishes in the opening six rounds.

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Assessing Stanek’s form, Robinson says his improvement has not been a surprise to the team.

“Phenomenal,” said Robinson looking at Stanek’s performances. “We’ve been saying this all year. From the minute we started working with Roman, we saw the potential.

“His understanding of the car, his data literacy, the way he works with the engineers and the way he works with Leo is exemplary. He is a real team player, and he has a good understanding of how the car works.

“He knows how to optimise the setup, and he has been working well with his engineer. We knew it was only a matter of time before all these performances came in.

“Barcelona was a difficult Feature Race, he did a great quali, but it was quite representative of where he was at that time of the season, flashes of excellence but things not going well in the race.

“Monaco qualifying, he did not put it together when it mattered. But he went away and did some work and since the Red Bull Ring, we are starting to see it come together.

“It wasn’t that he was rubbish in Barcelona and things started to come well, it was the result of a huge amount of work that he and people in the team have done to get here.”

PRACTICE: Browning and Hitech TGR make fast start in Budapest

Looking ahead to the two races to come this weekend, Robinson says both team and drivers will do all they can to get the best results possible.

“I wish I had a crystal ball now and could tell you what happens on Sunday,” continued Robinson. “It’s going to be dry tomorrow, so we will do the best we can from P9 and P10.

“Sunday, depending on what the weather does, it might be about keeping cool heads and making sure you make the right decisions, and making sure the drivers give each other enough room on track, and obviously we will do everything we can to ensure that it’s a 1-2.”