BUDAPEST QUALIFYING ANALYSIS: How Stanek differed from Fornaroli to take pole?

It was an Invicta Racing one-two in both the Budapest Qualifying and Feature Race, with Leonardo Fornaroli winning on Sunday ahead of teammate Roman Stanek.

But on Friday, it was the Czech driver that came out on top, as with a 1:28.779, he beat the Championship leader to pole by 0.146s. So how did he do it?

DIFFERENT STRATEGIES

The first thing to note is that Fornaroli ran a very different strategy, not only to Stanek, but to the rest of the field during Qualifying.

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So, while his 21 rivals went out on track at the start of the session, the Italian waited until 10 minutes had gone by before leaving the pitlane.

It was not so much about the time, but about when the rest of the field had completed their flying laps and would be returning to the pitlane.

This meant Fornaroli had a clear track as he set off on his first set of laps.

The 21-year-old returned to the pitlane having set the fourth fastest time, although his first lap, which had put him in P1, was deleted for his exceeding track limits at Turn 1.

Fornaroli left the track with just over 10 minutes left in the session, while the rest of the drivers came back out onto the circuit for their final runs.

Stanek, having been on provisional pole, improved on his next runs and maintained P1. Fornaroli left the pitlane with just four minutes left, giving him one attempt to overhaul his teammate.

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However, Fornaroli did not quite have enough to take pole.

WHY WOULD INVICTA AND FORNAROLI DO THIS?

For a couple of reasons, the first being that they wanted Fornaroli to set his early banker laps on an empty circuit. On such a small track, traffic, as well as yellow and Red Flags have caused drivers trouble in Qualifying in the past.

On top of that, Fornaroli would also set his best lap when the track was in its best condition, and that is almost always at the end of the session.

They had something similar before in 2023 with Jack Doohan, who complete his final laps a little out of sync with the rest of the field.

This meant his pole-winning time was set just after the rest of the field, and while his rivals had no more tyres left, the Australian was pushing on and going three-tenths quicker through the first two sectors, before he aborted his last attempt.

So, it’s a plan that has worked, but why did it not this time?

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STANEK MAKING THE DIFFERENCE – FIRST SECTOR

Well, Stanek’s pole was not one that came unexpectedly. He had been in fine form throughout the day, constantly in the mix at the front, finishing fourth in Free Practice.

But his final lap did not get off to the best of starts, as he had a snap of oversteer at the exit of Turn 1 that would have cost him some time. He finished the first sector in 31.991s, while Fornaroli did it in 31.852s.

So as Stanek watched on from the pitlane as his teammate set off on his final lap, he would have seen that he was 0.139s down already.

CLAWING IT BACK IN THE SECOND SECTOR

Stanek was magnificent through the second sector, the lone driver in the field to dip under 32s in that part of the lap, clocking in at 31.952s.

This is where the Czech driver made most of his time on Fornaroli, through the very technical section and finishing it 0.152s quicker than his teammate.

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While we may never know for sure, from their onboards, it looked like Stanek was much more aggressive at Turn 4, pushing the corner exit much more than Fornaroli.

He took a similar approach at the exit of the Turns 6 and 7 chicane, climbing the kerb much more than others, showing how much confidence that he had in himself and his car.

THE FINAL SECTOR

This meant that Fornaroli was just 0.013s down on Stanek going into the final sector, but just did not have enough to claim pole, completing it in 24.969s, while his teammate did in 24.836s.

Both drivers have snaps at the14th and final corner, so they would have lost time there. But the main area of loss for Fornaroli could have been how he approached the penultimate two corners.

Stanek is much more aggressive at the Turn 12 exit, pushing to the edge of the track. He looks to brake earlier into T13, and he hugs the apex, before getting on the throttle faster than Fornaroli can going into the final corner.

As for the Italian, he brakes later into T13, sacrificing his entry, and he is not as tight to the apex as Stanek, and then he also appears to get on the throttle slightly later, and this likely where he would have lost time.

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WAS STANEK’S AGGRESIVENESS DECISIVE?

It looks that way. As Invicta Team Principal James Robinson said after Qualifying:

“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.”

When you compare how Fornaroli attacked Turns 1, 4 and 12 on his first push lap, which was deleted, he was more aggressive, but he left more margin at those corners on his last attempt.

In the end, it worked out in his favour as he started from the front row, but Stanek’s willingness to push the boundaries might have been what got him pole for Invicta.