Fornaroli aces home F2 sprint, becomes first Italian winner at Monza since 2017
- Vyas Ponnuri
- Sep 6
- 5 min read
Written by Vyas Ponnuri
The F2 grid returned to racing action at Monza, but it was status quo at the head of the field, as championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli took his fourth race win of 2025, holding off the charging Campos of Arvid Lindblad in a fight to the final lap on home soil.
Fornaroli could once again taste success on home soil, returning to Monza for the first time since his title-winning F3 weekend. He became the first Italian winner at the venue in eight F2 seasons, the last one being Luca Ghiotto back in 2017.
Two crucial overtakes on Sami Meguetounif and Dino Beganovic marked the cornerstone of his race victory, with Lindblad and Joshua Dürksen rounding out the podium, the latter taking his second sprint podium in succession.
Richard Verschoor climbed up ten positions to finish fourth, ahead of Fornaroli's teammate Roman Staněk, while Dino Beganovic dropped from third to sixth after copping a five-second penalty.
Rounding out the points was another home racer Gabriele Minì, while Sunday's pole-sitter Luke Browning braved a tough race to finish eighth and take home one point. Pepe Martí and Sebastián Montoya rounded out the top ten on the road, in yet another intense F2 race.
AS IT UNFOLDED - The Monza sprint
Hitech TGR's Luke Browning took the top honours in a stop-start qualifying on Friday in the Temple of Speed. Although, it was his teammate Dino Beganovic who started the 21-lap sprint from the front, ahead of Trident's Sami Meguetounif and championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli.
Drivers chose to start the sprint on the red-walled soft tyre, the harder of the two compounds brought by Pirelli to Monza.
Yellow flags were briefly flown at the beginning of the formation lap, with Meguetounif slow to get underway, although he managed to get his Trident moving, and made his way back to second on the road.
As the five red lights went out, Beganovic quickly moved over to the right to cover off Meguetounif. Despite a few drivers locking up their tyres, they made it through the first chicane without any incident, while AIX Racing's Cian Shields found himself in the run off on the opening lap.
Fornaroli made a late dive down the inside of the Trident driver, snatching second into the Della Roggia chicane, a crucial move to put himself in with a shot for race victory.
Among the drivers losing spots on the opening lap were Shields' teammate Joshua Dürksen, who dropped to sixth, while Browning lost two spots to the DAMS pair of Kush Maini and Jak Crawford. The Sunday pole-sitter even chipped off the right endplate on his front wing in the second Lesmo corner.
As the drivers rounded the Curva Alboreto to complete Lap 1, a fierce battle ensued between the likes of Dürksen and Fornaroli's teammate Roman Staněk, slowing up the chasing Alex Dunne and Maini. As the Irishman went slightly deeper into the first chicane, reacting to the battle ahead, Maini spotted space to attempt a move around the outside of the high-speed Curva Grande.
As the Alpine junior attempted to go around the outside of Dunne at high speed, his wheels touched the grass, sending the DAMS spinning into the gravel. With a stranded car in the gravel at a high speed corner, the safety car was called out to neutralise proceedings, and extricate the stricken DAMS.
With the safety car coming in at the end of Lap 4, racing action resumed. Fornaroli, who sat right on the tail of Beganovic's Hitech TGR. As the duo scrapped down to the first chicane, Fornaroli moved ahead briefly, but had a massive lock up, going into the run off and relinquishing position.
Further back, Arvid Lindblad swiftly moved past Meguetounif's Trident to put himself in third. The Trident man also lost ground to Ollie Goethe and Dürksen, fighting the latter hard for position into the Della Roggia chicane.
Fornaroli, meanwhile, would move ahead on Lap 8 to take the race lead, making a DRS-assisted pass before covering the inside line into the first chicane. He would just stay on track, braking late to make the second part of the chicane, and avoid scampering into the run-off this time.
Beganovic would lose out to the charging Lindblad on Lap 9, now facing pressure from Red Bull junior Goethe, who loomed large in the mirrors. However, the quartet ran close, and in DRS range of each other onto Lap 10.
The Monza sprint went from bad to worse for Dunne. As the McLaren junior made his trademark dive-bomb on Meguetounif into the first chicane, it forced the French driver into the run-off area. Upon rejoining, Meguetounif rejoined on the racing line, making contact with Dunne's Rodin Motorsport, forcing both drivers into the gravel trap on the outside of the chicane.
The incident dropped Dunne out of the points, while Meguetounif pulled into the pits to retire from the race, following damage to his Trident. The Irishman, meanwhile, would find himself under investigation for both incidents post-race.
Championship contender Crawford found himself slipping back, as he lost positions to the likes of Lindblad's teammate Pepe Martí, Van Amersfoort Racing's Rafael Villagómez, Browning, Ritomo Miyata and Sebastián Montoya in the span of one lap. His DAMS appeared to have an issue, with the blinking red light on his car signifying an issue with his energy recovery system.
Goethe's attempt to move past Beganovic on Lap 15 saw him go too hard into the first chicane, scampering over the run off area. As he returned to the race track, he turned too quickly, spinning his MP Motorsport car around. This caused panic for drivers behind, with Gabriele Minì and Martí scampering over the run-off and into the gravel respectively.
As the race neared its closing stages, battles raged for the final podium spot between Beganovic and Dürksen, while Verschoor pressured Staněk for sixth, having started 14th. Neither Trident would see the chequered flag in their home event, with Max Esterson's engine billowing smoke on the run down to the Curva Alboreto, necessitating the virtual safety car on Lap 18 to move the Trident away from the track.
With the virtual safety car period ending on Lap 19, the battles resumed, with Verschoor's swift reactions rewarded with fifth on the road, past Staněk's Invicta Racing car.
Fornaroli and Lindblad ran close as the race entered its final two tours. The Campos racer pushed on to chase his Italian rival, but a wide moment off the Ascari chicane saw him dip a tyre into the gravel, putting Lindblad out of DRS range onto the crucial final lap.
Elsewhere, Beganovic suffered a five-second penalty for an infringement during the virtual safety car period, which saw Dürksen take a trip through the gravel at the Della Roggia chicane. This would demote Beganovic to sixth on the road, with the Paraguayan driver inheriting the final podium spot.
Fornaroli held off Lindblad to take his fourth victory of 2025, extending his championship lead along the way, and taking a step closer to a dream F2 title win. Elsewhere, an excellent drive saw Verschoor finish fourth on the road, making up ten spots on the track, while Montoya climbed 11 places from 21st to finish 10th on the road.
Final Classification - F2 sprint at Monza
Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing)
Arvid Lindblad (Campos Racing)
Joshua Dürksen (AIX Racing)
Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport)
Roman Staněk (Invicta Racing)
Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR)
Gabriele Minì (PREMA Racing)
Luke Browning (Hitech TGR)
Pepe Martí (Campos Racing)
Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing)
Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport)
Ritomo Miyata (ART Grand Prix)
Rafael Villagómez (Van Amersfoort Racing)
John Bennett (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Cian Shields (AIX Racing)
Jak Crawford (DAMS)
Amaury Cordeel (Rodin Motorsport)
Ollie Goethe (MP Motorsport)
Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix)
Max Esterson (Trident) - DNF
Sami Meguetounif (Trident) - DNF
Kush Maini (DAMS) - DNF
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