Leonardo Fornaroli reinforced his grip on the 2025 Formula 2 championship with a commanding Feature Race victory at the Hungaroring, leading an Invicta Racing 1-2 finish.
Despite a time penalty for speeding in the pitlane, the Italian showcased flawless pace and excited a perfect undercut strategy to pull away from his rivals and extend his lead in the standings.
His team-mate Roman Stanek crossed the line in second to complete Invicta’s dominance this weekend and Jak Crawford took yet another podium finish in third.
Stanek’s front-row lockout alongside championship leader Fornaroli set the tone for the team’s dominant performance throughout the Feature Race.
Crawford lined up just behind them in third, while Richard Verschoor faced a tougher challenge starting from 11th on the grid.
Alex Dunne started the race from ninth and Luke Browning went from fourth on the grid.
Invicta pair take control on a drying track
The Hungaroring had dried slightly from the earlier Formula 3 Feature Race as the grid opted for slick tyres on a greasy track ahead of the race start.
Race control opted to begin the formation lap behind the Safety Car, with a rolling start as Stanek led the field out of Turn 13.
Up front, the order remained largely unchanged as overtaking proved difficult — only the racing line had dried, while damp patches lingered on the side of the track.
DRS was enabled on Lap 2, with Victor Martins leading the alternate strategy runners in seventh, closely followed by Arvid Lindblad on the same tyre compound in eighth. Pepe Marti and Verschoor also committed to go long.
Meanwhile, Martins made a mistake in the middle sector and dropped back to 12th.
On Lap 4, Browning and Crawford went wheel-to-wheel for third. The British driver pulled ahead out of Turn 1 but ran wide at Turn 2, allowing the DAMS Lucas Oil driver to reclaim the position.
Meanwhile, the Invicta pair had already broken away, opening up a gap to the rest of the chasing pack. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed on Lap 6 after smoke began pouring from the rear of Amaury Cordeel’s Rodin Motorsport car.
It ended on Lap 7 and Lindblad made up two places at the restart, passing Goethe, who went deep into Turn 1, and Joshua Durksen at the next corner after he ran wide.
On Lap 10, Martins began to slow down as his ART car eventually gave way on the exit of Turn 12 in the middle of the race track.
The VSC was deployed as drivers slowed near the pit lane entry, anticipating a possible switch to a full Safety Car.
Fornaroli jumps Stanek with bold undercut but receives time penalty
It never came as the race marshals wheeled away the stricken car before the VSC ended on the next lap.
At the restart, Goethe launched an attack on Lindblad into Turn 13 but ran wide, opening the door for Durksen and Dunne to slip through.
Amid the chaos, the Irishman overtook the AIX Racing driver to snatch sixth place. Gabrielle Mini moved up to ninth ahead of Verschoor as Marti dropped out of the points.
The Spaniard fought his way back up to ninth with a brilliant sequence of moves through Turns 1 and 2, as Browning and Durksen became the first drivers inside the top 10 to dive into the pits for Medium tyres.
Goethe and Mini also came in as the race leader boxed on the next lap alongside Crawford as Fornaroli continued for another lap.
The championship leader pitted on Lap 17 and made huge gains with the undercut, emerging in front of his team-mate and taking the effective race lead.
Dunne pitted on the same lap and lost two positions to Durksen and Goethe with cold tyres.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Fornaroli, as he was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane — putting his lead under immediate threat. Stanek and Crawford were close behind, ready to pounce.
Goethe overtook Durksen on Lap 22, just as his MP Motorsport team-mate RVerschoor became the first of the alternate strategy runners to pit.
The Dutchman rejoined ahead of both drivers, gaining track position by extending his stint. Lindblad followed suit with a stop on the next lap.
He came back out just behind Browning, equipped with fresh tyres and poised to launch an attack on the leaders. Verschoor, meanwhile, had fallen behind his team-mate, struggling for grip on cold rubber.
Invicta secures 1-2 finish as Fornaroli extends championship lead
Marti came in on the next lap as his Campos team-mate dropped behind both MP Motorsport drivers, also struggling with getting heat into the Soft tyres.
Lindblad retook the position off Goethe on Lap 28 through the middle sector as Dino Beganovic rejoined ahead of Durksen and Marti.
At the same time, Crawford sent it on Stanek at Turn 1 but locked up to allow the Czech driver back ahead. Meanwhile, Fornaroli escaped down the road with his team-mate fighting for second.
By the following lap, he had opened up a five-second gap — just enough to retain the lead despite his time penalty. Meanwhile, Beganovic overtook Dunne into the final corner, setting his sights on Goethe next.
The Hitech driver made the pass on Lap 30 as the Soft tyre runners started to close in on Browning in fourth.
By Lap 33, Beganovic had reeled in Lindblad as Fornaroli had taken his advantage over Stanek to seven seconds and within reach of the race victory.
Ritomo Miyata, who had yet to pit from the alternate strategy, finally came in on the penultimate lap.
Fornaroli kept his distance from his team-mate and crossed the line more than five seconds ahead of Stanek for his third win of the season.
Stanek crossed the line for a 1-2 finish in what was a dominant weekend for Invicta as Crawford made it back-to-back podiums for the weekend in Budapest.
Browning finished fourth and Verschoor in fifth ahead of Lindblad, Beganovic, Goethe, Dunne and Marti rounding out the top 10 for the Feature Race.
READ MORE – Pepe Marti fends off late pressure from Alex Dunne to claim Hungary F2 Sprint win
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