SPRINT RACE: Fornaroli in formidable form in home victory at Monza

Leonardo Fornaroli extended his Championship lead with his fourth win of the season.

Starting in third, the Invicta Racing driver took the lead in the early phase of the race and controlled things from the front afterwards, resisting late pressure from second-place finisher Arvid Lindblad.

AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen finished fourth on the road, but inherited P3 after Dino Beganovic was given a five-second time penalty for a Virtual Safety Car infringement.

AS IT HAPPENED

Beganovic got a good start and defended his lead into Turn 1 from Sami Meguetounif, who was overtaken at Turn 4 by a charging Fornaroli. Behind them, Duerksen ran across the second chicane and dropped to sixth having started fourth, falling behind Lindblad and Oliver Goethe.

Onto Lap 2 and Kush Maini was spinning after looking to round Alexander Dunne at Curva Grande for P7. The DAMS Lucas Oil driver was left stuck in the gravel and that brought out the Safety Car.

The Safety Car was in at the end of Lap 4 and racing resumed with Beganovic under pressure into the first corner. But a big lock-up for Fornaroli left the Invicta driver skipping across the first chicane and he fell back in line behind the Swede.

Behind them, Lindblad moved himself into third with a pass on Meguetounif at the first chicane.

With DRS re-enabled, the race leader had Fornaroli and Lindblad following in close quarters, both within a second of the Hitech driver entering Lap 7.

The following lap and Fornaroli got the car stopped in time at Turn 1 to take the race lead from Beganovic, despite another lock-up into the first corner.

Lap 9 and Lindblad was through on Beganovic into Turn 1, but moments later, Meguetounif and Dunne made contact ahead of Turn 2. It left both off the track in the gravel and dropping down the order.

Richard Verschoor’s recovery from P14 continued on Lap 12 as he cleared Jak Crawford for P7 down the main straight.

MP Motorsport teammate Goethe had closed in on the leading trio and he attempted to round Beganovic on the outside of Turn 1 but had to run wide. The Red Bull Junior spun as he rejoined however, dropping him down to P16 as a result.

A Virtual Safety Car was deployed on Lap 18 after Max Esterson pulled to the side of the road to retire with an issue between the pre-penultimate and final corners.

It was quickly withdrawn and Verschoor took full advantage, catching Roman Stanek out into Turn 4 to move himself into fifth place.

Onto Lap 20 of 21 and Lindblad tried to close the gap down to the race leader but ran slightly wide out of Ascari. Crucially it dropped him out of DRS range of Fornaroli entering the 21st and final lap.

It gave Fornaroli the breathing room needed to take his fourth race victory of 2025 and his third Sprint win of the season. Lindblad had to settle for second, 1.6s adrift in the end.

Behind them, Beganovic was handed a five-second time penalty for a Virtual Safety Car infringement, and Duerksen benefitted to take third when the Swede’s penalty was applied at the chequered flag.

Verschoor moved up to fourth ahead of Stanek in fifth, with Beganovic winding up sixth. Gabriele Minì scored home points in seventh, while Luke Browning rounded out the points in eighth.

KEY QUOTE – Leonardo Fornaroli, Invicta Racing

“Winner of the Sprint Race here at home, very happy with this race. It was really not easy, because after the first Safety Car restart I had a huge flat spot so that didn’t help during the race. I felt super good with the car and I really want to thank Invicta for the hard work. Tomorrow it will be a bit more tricky but I will do my best”

THE CHAMPIONSHP STANDINGS

Fornaroli extends his advantage in the points standings, going onto 164 points. Verschoor earned an important result and moved onto 140 points in second, with Jak Crawford third on 137. Luke Browning follows in fourth on 126 ahead of Alexander Dunne in fifth with 124.

Invicta Racing lead both Standings as they head the way in the Teams’ points on 245. Campos Racing are second on 198, with Hitech TGR third on 187. DAMS Lucas Oil and MP Motorsport are now tied on 163 points apiece in fourth and fifth places.

UP NEXT

The FIA Formula 2 Feature Race in Monza is scheduled to get underway at 09:45 local time on Sunday morning.