Fornaroli hopeful of achieving ‘amazing’ title victory at ‘special’ Monza circuit

Leonardo Fornaroli may be going into the title showdown at Monza leading the Championship, but the Trident driver is taking nothing for granted heading into the season finale.
The Italian heads to Round 10 on home soil with on 129 points, leading his compatriot Gabriele Minì by just a point ahead of the weekend’s action.
With such a slender lead, Fornaroli is not underestimating the challenge ahead, especially with him and his rivals having two races around the Temple of Speed to battle it out.
READ MORE: Minì aiming for final F3 flourish and Drivers’ Championship crown

“Of course, I am leading the Championship and that gives me confidence but it’s just by one point,” acknowledged Fornaroli. “So, anything can happen, everything is still possible, nothing is decided.
“But anyway, that’s okay, I don’t want to think about it before going to Monza otherwise my brain is going to explode.”
Fornaroli’s campaign has been built on consistency, as while he has not won a race, unlike Minì, Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad, Dino Beganovic, and Oliver Goethe, he has scored points in 16 out of the 18 races this year – more than any other driver on the grid.
This is something that Fornaroli is proud of even if he admits that his track limits violation in the Spielberg Qualifying that dropped him down the order as well as losing out on the victory in Imola to his teammate Sami Meguetounif are still on his mind.
“Looking back, I think the key was just to do my best without making any mistakes,” he explained. “If sometimes you cannot win, just finish second, third or fourth, just take as many points as possible without making any mistakes.
“But I am also proud of our pace in Qualifying and in the races, it’s been super good. Compared to last year I’ve made a huge step and also with the car, with Trident, we developed it a lot.
READ MORE: Browning says he is ‘ready to win’ Formula 3 title ahead of Monza title showdown
“I’m not a hundred percent satisfied with my job, especially with what happened in Austria, which was a really bad mistake, a really small mistake but with big consequences.
“In Imola, I was about to win or fight with Sami for the win but unfortunately, I had the issue on the main straight and we lost so much time, I have that one here in my head you know.
“It was terrible for me, but we managed still to finish third and score good points but of course I lost some points there. However, we cannot change the past, and I’m only looking forwards to the future.”
Those mistakes alongside his rivals’ race wins at one stage put the Italian on the back foot in the title fight but Fornaroli’s consistency especially in recent rounds have helped him fight back.
Heading to Budapest, he was fourth in the Standings with 93 points, trailing leader Minì by 26 points. However, he scored points in both Sprint Races, first at the Hungaroring and then at Spa-Francorchamps a week later.
READ MORE: Lindblad planning to ‘send it’ at Monza as he has nothing to lose in title showdown
On top of that, he finished third at both Feature Races, important results as his rivals hit trouble behind him. This put Fornaroli back on top of the Championship for the first time since Barcelona, something he did not expect.
“In the last two rounds, the other championship contenders struggled a bit, and I scored more points than them,” he reflected. “So, it’s good that I could bounce back then, especially because before Budapest I was 26 points behind the leader.
“So, now to be back on top is just incredible, I was not expecting that, so I am really happy about it, but everything is super tight.”
Fornaroli now heads to Monza, admitting he needed the summer break after an intense five rounds in six weeks. His preparations with Trident have started and while he quickly lets himself think of a title victory at home, he knows there is a job to do before anything is decided.
“It has been long since Barcelona with the triple header, then one week of rest then double header,” added Fornaroli. “It was very long, really nice, but very long.
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“I definitely needed some rest now but then of course I went back to train again and doing simulator work with Trident to prepare for Monza as well as possible.
“It would be amazing of course to win it here. Monza is one of my favourite tracks, I had my first podium in Formula 4 there, so it’s special for me. It would be a special place, almost the perfect place, but I will not be focused on that, I will just do my job as I have done this season.”