Fornaroli: winning at the right moment

If you were looking for the meaning of the term ‘Underdog’, often used in recent years, you wouldn’t have trouble grasping the concept by thinking of the career of Leonardo Fornaroli, born in 2004, the fresh F2 Champion on his debut in the category.

The last two seasons of Formula 3 and Formula 2 have consecrated a driver who until the end of 2023 was not among the main prospects on whom insiders would have bet. A path in karting with some important placements but no noteworthy victories, and a debut in F4 first, then Regional, overshadowed by the narratives of drivers (read Bearman and Antonelli) who, in those apprenticeship seasons of Leonardo, had shined. In a sport that puts enormous pressure even on children as young as 8, it might seem normal that to attract attention, victories and endorsements from the ‘people who matter’ must come before the age of twenty, but if we analyze more rationally how a driver matures, Fornaroli’s path seems more human-scaled.

 

 

The son of a Gentleman driver, he started like many of his peers in Minikart, gaining the necessary experience step by step to move up in categories by competing in one-make championships until 2020, when he moved to F4 (Italian and German championships), where he began accumulating kilometers and experience necessary to attempt the climb to the top. His first year of real prominence was 2022 when, in Formula Regional, he was Rookie of the Year with an 8th place overall. The team was Trident, the same with which he debuted in F3 in 2023, where he earned some podiums, a pole position but still no wins. In 2024, he clinched the F3 title, again without wins, but by this point it was clear what kind of driver he was made of: great dedication, mental and sporting commitment, disarming humility—qualities well worth a victory, as emphasized in the victory special published just last month featuring words by Giovanni Minardi, someone who truly understands drivers and the feeder series. From not being considered a favorite, Fornaroli finally made that his strength.

 

Now that he has lined up two consecutive titles, the most important for those aiming at F1, it is right to aim for the big target, where the few others with this record are named Piastri, Russell, Leclerc, or more recently Bortoleto. He has defined his 2026 program as “confirmed” *** , promising to reveal it publicly in the coming weeks. For now, all we can do is congratulate the Italian driver who, alongside Antonelli, makes Italians dream again of the possibility of an Italian one-two finish in F1.