Future

McLaren, Verstappen’s simulator and the keys to Leonardo Fornaroli’s 2025 F2 title

December 10, 2025

by Samarth Kanal

5min read

Leonardo Fornaroli cuts an unassuming figure, especially when he’s not in his yellow and black Invicta Racing clothing. Other drivers in the Formula 2 paddock might get asked for more autographs or even relish the limelight a bit more than him. But the spotlight is now on this young Italian. He’s the 2025 Formula 2 champion.

Until recently, Fornaroli was not one of the headline F2 names. Red Bull junior and 2026 Racing Bulls F1 driver Arvid Lindblad, Williams junior Luke Browning, Irish prodigy and very recent McLaren junior Alex Dunne, and Dutch F2 veteran Richard Verschoor all garnered far more coverage and attention.

Unlike many of his rivals, Fornaroli wasn’t associated with an F1 team through 2025. That changed when, after he clinched the F2 title in Qatar, he was announced as a McLaren test and development driver alongside Verschoor.

“We started speaking to McLaren after Baku,” Fornaroli tells Raceteq. “The trust from them was amazing. The support has been incredible from them. It's an amazing opportunity for me. I really want to thank them so much for the support. And I can't wait to start working together.

“Currently, they are one of the best teams in Formula 1. They've won two constructors’ championships in a row. So, I can’t wait to start working there.”

Fornaroli driving his Invicta Racing F2 car on the way to the drivers’ title in Qatar, 2025

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Fornaroli’s relative anonymity and perhaps aloofness might be mistaken for shyness - a trait none of the F2 drivers exude. They’ve got this far up the single-seater pyramid; there’s a deep element of competition and self-belief within all of them.

“I just try to be myself. Be who I am, say things without exaggerating,” he says. “I always try to achieve the best from myself. And when I can’t, I try to see what I could have done better.”

So, does anything actually anger him?

Fornaroli uses his third-place result in the final qualifying performance of the season as an example - using a choice word to describe his emotions.

“It [irritates] me… quite easily when I'm not performing at my best, but it's how I am. It's just me. And I think it's also helping me, because every time I try to push even more to achieve the best.”

Lack of F1 association aside, the reason for Fornaroli’s relative obscurity might lie in his path to the F2 title. He won the F3 championship with Trident on his second attempt in 2024 without winning a race. Before that, he achieved a best single-seater standing of fifth in the 2021 Italian F4 Championship.

Fornaroli on the top step of the podium at his home race in Monza, Italy. This was his last race win of the 2025 F2 season

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When it came to the 2025 F2 championship, Fornaroli was an outside contender until the second half of the season. After round 14 (Austria) of 28, he was 28 points behind then-leader Verschoor.

The explanation for Fornaroli’s title win is simple: he never started lower than 10th on the grid (with three pole positions) and his worst finish post-Austria was sixth. That is a remarkable return - one he says was catalysed by his hopes for a deal with McLaren and the title win itself.

“Experience played a big role,” he says. “Then I knew the last rounds of this [F2] season were very important for my future. We've just done the basics right.”

Fornaroli adds that his qualifying performance was “amazing” in 2025.

“If I’m not happy with a lap, I’m thinking, processing. Then I look at the data with the engineers, with everyone, to see what I could have done better.”

His team Invicta Racing has built up a roster of experienced engineers under the astute leadership of team manager Geoff Spear and CEO and team principal James Robinson. The Norfolk, UK-based team has now secured the F2 teams’ title and drivers’ title in consecutive years.

Geoff Spear (R) on the podium in Hungary, where, in 2025, Fornaroli (centre) won the feature race and Invicta Racing team-mate Roman Stanek (L) finished second

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Fornaroli credits all of them with his success, but race engineer Pau Rivera - who also engineered 2024 F2 champion and now Sauber/Audi F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto - garners particular praise.

“He's an amazing engineer,” says Fornaroli. “He had a lot of really good drivers through his career, like Gabriel last year.

“He was able to teach me so many things both inside and outside the track, when we were in the simulator. He was always able to motivate me to improve and to do better even if a race was not going my way.”

The simulator Invicta uses is the Verstappen.com Racing Pro Simulation in Tilburg, Netherlands. Used by drivers and teams in F4, Eurocup-3, Formula Regional, Formula 3, F2 and even F1, it is a highly regarded technical asset.

“We've developed the car model and the tyre model very well,” Fornaroli explains. “Also, Gabriel [Bortoleto] did an amazing job last year, and the [tyre] model feels very similar to the real car’s tyres.

“We do lots of simulations, lots of qualifying simulations, and we have [gained] a lot of data.

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“Also, all the people who work there are super professional. So, it has been an amazing help this year for both me and Roman [Stanek, team-mate].”

Above are the factors that contributed to Fornaroli and Invicta’s sweep of the 2025 F2 titles - but Fornaroli has already mentioned the key.

That is to decipher the Pirelli tyres, by maximising their contact with the track and the amount of time they spend in the optimal temperature window.

Raceteq asks Fornaroli whether that was the case for him in 2025.

“Our engineers, they are amazing in a lot of ways,” he starts, before pausing.

“Yes, we've discovered it: get the set-up in the right window, put the tyres on… and then you push.”

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