Leonardo Fornaroli eager to make most of opportunities around Silverstone

While Spielberg didn’t go according to plan for Leonardo Fornaroli, the Trident driver is eager to bounce back at the first time of asking around a track he rates as one of his favourites.

The Italian driver missed out on a top 12 start last weekend, leaving him with two fightback drives on his hands. On Sunday, he made it back into the points with a P9 result, but he’s eager to avoid any form of mistakes like the track limits violation from Qualifying around the Red Bull Ring this time.

“Silverstone is one of my favourite weekends of the season, so I’m very happy to be here,” he said ahead of the weekend. “I’m also feeling pretty confident because we had a good weekend here last year. So, I’m ready to get started.

“Unfortunately, I made a big mistake in Qualifying, but we recovered very well in the races. We started from nearly last and finished in the points on Sunday, so that gives me a good amount of confident going into this weekend.

“I did a lot of overtaking too, so I’m ready to do a better weekend this time around.”

Fornaroli returns to the track he claimed his first ever FIA F3 Pole Position around, securing the top honours in 2023 on a strong weekend for the Italian team.

He says that the circuit’s layout plays to his strengths as a driver, and he’s eager to repeat the feat in 2024 as he aims to close back down the deficit in the Championship.

The Trident driver also noted how taking care of the tyres would be an important factor, as has been the case in recent rounds of the 2024 campaign.

“I did my first Pole Position here last year. I like the track because it’s a mix between very high-speed which I love the most and a few low-speed corners. For me it’s the perfect combination so that’s why I love it so much.

“Tyre management will be a key. Maybe not as much as Barcelona and Red Bull Ring, but we’ll still need to take care of them.”

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Now third in the Drivers’ Championship, Fornaroli says he cannot afford to make similar mistakes going forward as the season hurtles towards the final stages.

Four rounds remain in 2024 and the Trident driver is 20 points behind leader Luke Browning but says he will be coming into Silverstone to take any and all opportunities to make up that deficit.

“We’re coming towards the end of the season. Unfortunately, I lost a few points in Austria, but we still have four rounds to go, and I’ll try to take as many points as possible without throwing away any opportunities.”