Newly crowned Formula 2 Champion, Leonardo Fornaroli has become one of three new signings to the McLaren Driver Development Programme, with the Italian joining alongside fellow F2 racer Richard Verschoor and 2025 FIA European Karting Champion Christian Costoya.
Fornaroli sealed the F2 title during the Feature Race in Qatar, the Invicta Racing driver taking P2 in the event to confirm his championship triumph following a season in which he has claimed four victories and five podiums.
It also marks back-to-back titles for the 20 year old, who emulated the likes of Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Borotleto by winning the the F2 Championship off the back of doing the same in Formula 3 one year earlier.
Now becoming part of the McLaren family, Fornaroli will take on a test and development role within the F1 team’s structure.
Also joining the programme is Verschoor, who finished third this season in the Formula 2 Championship. The 24 year old from the Netherlands has won four races during the current campaign.
Another signing by McLaren is 15 year old Costoya. The Spanish teenager has claimed multiple karting championships and is set to make his single seater debut in the 2026 F4 Middle East Championship at the Yas Marina Circuit on January 16th – 18th.
McLaren Racing are delighted to welcome two of Formula 2’s current leading drivers in this year’s Champion Leonardo Fornaroli and former Championship contender and fellow front-runner Richard Verschoor, as well as proven karting champion, Christian Costoya, to the McLaren Racing Driver Development Programme. All three talented drivers have shown great race craft with multiple wins this season, alongside a number of impressive performances in their respective championships. By welcoming Christian to the programme alongside long-standing member, Dries Van Langendonck, we now also have two of the most promising drivers coming out of karting. It is a key priority that we continue to develop our talent pipeline to provide options for all of our expanding racing teams. We look forward to working closely with all our drivers in 2026 as they continue their individual development at various stages of their career with the support of the programme through a wide range of testing and progression opportunities across all of our racing series. Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Chief Business Affairs Officer, McLaren Racing.
Pole-sitter Verschoor has a great start to retain the lead while Marti jumped ahead of Gabriele Mini to take second after lining up in P3, going around the outside of the PREMA driver at Turn 1.
Lindblad also had a good first lap for Campos, going from sixth on the grid to fourth, and he was right on the back of Mini going into the final corner of the first lap.
However, the Brit’s progress was briefly halted as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed with the marshals having to clear Cian Shields’ car from the track. Racing resumed on Lap 3 and both Campos drivers were flying. First Lndblad used the DRS to get ahead of Mini going into the final corner.
His teammate Marti then went around the outside again at Turn 1 to start Lap 4, this time on Verschoor to take the lead of the race. Verschoor though returned the favour on the next lap, pulling off a similar move on the Campos driver to retake the position.
Crucially though, his overtake later earned him his five-second time penalty after being judged to have forced Marti off track to complete the move.
Onto Lap 6 and the race began to settle down as the drivers looked to manage their medium tyres. Out in front, Verschoor had pulled out a 1.5s gap on Marti, who was now coming under pressure from Lindblad.
The change for P2 came on Lap 8 as Marti ran wide at Turn 8, giving Lindblad the position. The Spaniard went off line again at the final corner and this time it was Mini who overtook him.
However, the Campos driver retook the position with the help of DRS down the main straight. Mini then lost fourth place to Stanek at Turn 27, but their battle allowed Dunne to close in. The trio went three-wide into Turn 1, and the Rodin Motorsport driver came out on top to take 4th.
As Lap 15 got underway, Jak Crawford used DRS to get ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli into Turn 1, pushing the DAMS Lucas Oil driver up to seventh.
The American was flying and was right on the back of Mini through the entirety of the lap. He looked to make another move into Turn 1 but collided with the PREMA driver before spinning into a stoppage, bringing out the Safety Car.
Action resumed on Lap 18 and Verschoor stayed ahead of Lindblad, but Mini’s struggles continued, as Fornaroli overtook him for P6 down the main straight.
DRS was enabled on Lap 19, but Verschoor was 1.2s ahead of Lindblad as they approached the second sector.
On to the final lap, and Verschoor’s penalty was confirmed meaning that while the MP driver crossed the line first, Lindblad followed and claimed P1,, making him the youngest winner in the Championship’s history.
Crawford covered off Martins from the front row, while Sprint Race winner Arvid Linblad lost fifth to Alexander Dunne at Turn 4 after losing a battle with Luke Browning for P4 at the opening chicane.
Josep Maria Marti then relegated Lindblad to seventh on Lap 2, passing around the outside at Turns 1 and 2 as the Campos Racing teammates kept itc clean going wheel-to-wheel.
Having been cooped up underneath the rear wing of the Invicta Racing driver for several laps, Browning used DRS along the main straight to take third from Leonardo Fornaroli on Lap 6. Dunne made a late dive to bump the Italian down another position into Turn 1.
Fornaroli, Marti and Gabriele Mini were in on Lap 7 for their mandatory pitstops and switched to the Medium tyres. It promoted Verschoor into free air in fifth, the MP driver in the highest placed car on the alternative strategy having started on the yellow-walled compound.
Leader Crawford pitted on the following lap, as did Browning and Dunne from the top five, they then rejoined in 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.
Dunne and Browning went side by side into Turn 1 but the Rodin driver went deep into the corner and rejoined, baulking Browning and allowing Fornaroli to sneak by both for 11th on the road.
The Virtual Safety Car was then deployed to recover debris on track just before Martins and Crawford reached the first DRS zone of the lap, allowing the ART driver some respite with his tyres not yet up to racing temperature.
The VSC was withdrawn towards the end of Lap 19 and Crawford on the rear wing of the effective race leader. The DAMS driver used DRS to get alongside the Frenchman into Turn 1, and the duo went side by side all the way to Turn 4.
Crawford got a great exit from Turn 27 to set up the pass on the following lap, taking ninth on the road from Martins with DRS along the main striaght.
Behind them, Browning had Dunne, Marti and Mini for close company and the Spaniard made the first move, diving to the inside of the Rodin rookie at Turn 27 to P13.
Race leader, Verschoor was carrying on nicely. He had a comfortable gap back to second placed Kush Maini and continued to lap quicker than Crawford, with several purple sector times and fastest laps approaching 10 laps to go.
By Lap 24, the Dutch driver had a 26.8s gap over Crawford and the MP driver was into the pitlane for his switch to Supersofts. With a clean stop, he rejoined behind Crawford but crucially ahead of Martins in P4.
With four laps to go, Verschoor was three seconds back from Crawford. Across the line into the final three laps, it was down to 2.5s and onto the penultimate tour, the Dutch driver cut the deficit to 1.3s.
Through the first sector on Lap 27 and Verschoor was into DRS range on the DAMS driver ahead. Out of Turn 27 and he was right underneath the rear wing and across the line with DRS, Verschoor surged by for the race lead on the final lap.
The Dutch driver claimed victory with a redemption drive. Crawford was second ahead of Martins, who held off Fornaroli for the final spot on the podium.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verschoor, P2: Crawford, P3: Martins, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Marti, P6: Browning, P7: Lindblad, P8: Dunne, P9: Mini and P10: Maini.
MP Motorsport have announced that Richard Verschoor will complete the 2024 FIA Formula 2 season with the team, and confirmed he will race for them in 2025.
The Dutch driver returns to the team he made his Formula 2 debut with back in 2021, replacing Dennis Hauger for the final two rounds of the current season.
Verschoor has achieved four race wins across his F2 career, and earned a further eight podium finishes, with four of those coming in 2024.
Previously, the Dutch combination won the Macau FIA F3 World Cup back in 2019 and ahead of his return to the MP cockpit in Lusail.
Signing up with MP for more Formula 2 feels like coming home. I spent half of my entire racing career with MP, so it means a lot to me that we are able to move forward together for 2025 while also adding the two final 2024 rounds at Losail and Yas Marina. It’s been a partnership that has led to success in Formula 4, Formula 3 and Formula 2, including that legendary victory at Macau. I can’t wait to travel to Qatar and go back to working with the team once again. Verschoor on the news.
I’m extremely happy to welcome back Richard for another season in Formula 2. We have celebrated many wins together, so it’s a true privilege to tap into his wealth of Formula 2 knowledge as we head towards a new season. Richard returning to the MP fold is testament to the way we go racing as a family, and he has always fitted right in. Meanwhile, I would like to thank Dennis for his huge contribution to the team in the past two F2 seasons. Three wins, nine podiums and two poles is no mean feat, and I am certain that he will take his career to a new level in North America. MP Motorsport Team Principal, Sander Dorsman.
Victor Martins made a quick start to the Monte Carlo weekend by setting the fastest time in a rain-affected practice session. The ART Grand Prix driver’s lap of 1:39.237 lead the field ahead of Richard Verschoor and Dennis Hauger.
Heavy rain hit the track just before the start of the session, meaning drivers headed out onto a damp circuit. This made for tricky running with Enzo Fittipaldi the first to have a close call with the barrier at the hairpin section.
As conditions improved and the drivers gained more confidence in the wet, the fastest time changed hands multiple times. But after 10 minutes of running, Martins led an ART 1-2, his time of 1:40.531 put him half a second clear of Zak O’Sullivan.
Martins continued to set the pace and once again lowered the benchmark time to a 1:39.237. Trident’s Verschoor followed him across the line to go to P2, albeit nine-tenths behind.
But red flags were waved with Franco Colapinto stationary in his MP Motorsport car after contact with the barrier at La Rascasse.
The action resumed with 20 minutes left, and Dennis Hauger was the next driver to improve, moving up to second. The rain began to worsen as the session entered into the final 10 minutes leading the teams to bring their cars back into the pitlane.
Day 2-
Group A-
The 11 even-numbered drivers headed out on to the track with 16 minutes on the clock looking to set their fastest times.
After crossing the line to complete their first flying laps, it was ART driver Zak O’Sullivan who was the one to beat with a 1:23.118 putting him P1. His time was over half a second quicker than his nearest rivan in Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar.
The Briton continued to set the pace on his next effort, completing a lap of 1:22.202. On this occasion, the gap to second place Verschoor was just 0.113s.
As the first segment entered into the closing stages, green and purple colours lit up the timing screens as Verschoor went quickest with a 1:21.283 for Trident, a tenth ahead of Hadjar.
Gabriel Bortoleto was third for Invicta Racing, but he came on the radio to inform his team that he had hit the wall in the swimming pool section.
The drivers then set off on their final attempts, but despite their best efforts, no one could beat Verschoor’s time.
Group B-
The second set of 11 drivers headed out on to the track with Verschoor’s 1:21.283 their target time for pole.
As the drivers started their flying laps, the red flags were waved early after Rafael Villagomez lost the rear of his Van Amersfoort Racing car on the entry to Turn 1, sending him straight into the barrier.
With the track clear, drivers left the pitlane with nine minutes left in the segment. They wasted no time going for their push laps and it was Rodin’s Zane Maloney who went to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:21.941.
But Martins went back to the top of the leaderboard but not for long as Roman Stanek’s 1:21.466 to put him ahead of the Frenchman.
One final attempt was all there was time for, but Stanek’s hopes were dashed when he collided with the barrier in the second sector. Martins crossed the line to go fastest with a 1:21.310. This left Verschoor on pole position ahead of Martins for the feature race.
The full top overall are- P1: Verschoor, P2: Martins, P3: Hadjar, P4: Aron, P5: Colapinto, P6: Stanek, P7: Antonelli, P8: Hauger, P9: Bortoleto and P10: Barnard.
However, Bearman, Correa and Maini all have been given a three place grid penalty for impeeding.
Trident have announced that three-time Formula 2 race winner Richard Verschoor will be returning to compete for the Italian team next season.
The Dutch driver has scored a victory in each season he’s driven in since his debut campaign with MP Motorsport in 2021. 2022 saw him partner up with Trident, finishing 12th in the Standings with five podiums to his name.
Switching to Van Amersfoort Racing this year, Verschoor added a win in the Spielberg Feature Race to his tally, as well as two further podiums to his name, overall he finished the season ninth in the Drivers’ Championship.
After claiming both SMP and Spanish Formula 4 titles, in his debut single seater season, Verschoor has been a consistent performer as he progressed through the ranks. Finishing third overall with three victories in the 2017 Toyota Racing Series, he improved to second the following year alongside winning the Macau Grand Prix.
Two campaigns followed in Formula 3, with a best result of ninth in 2020 before he graduated to Formula 2 for the 2021 season.
I am thrilled to announce that I will be racing for Trident Motorsport in Formula 2 next year. After our successful collaboration in 2022, I am excited to be back with the Italian family and eager to work tirelessly on developing the new car together. I am grateful for this opportunity and ready to take on the challenges ahead!
Verschoor on the news.
We are delighted to welcome Verschoor back to our line-up. At the end of the 2022 season, he left great memories and we are really proud and motivated to have him back with us. I’m sure that we have all the ingredients needed to run a competitive season. Verschoor is a quick and experienced driver and is known for not wasting occasions. We will do our best to support him and reach some ambitious goals together.
Light rain ahead of the race meant half the field opted to start on the wet tyres. Utilising the dry soft tyres, reverse polesitter Crawford held the lead through the opening corners, but it was Arthur Leclerc who made the most of his choice to start on wets.
Jehan Daruvala spinning off into the gravel at Turn 7 brought out an early Safety Car at the start of Lap 2.
Out front, Leclerc opted to stay out and held the lead at the restart on Lap 4. Second-place Richard Verschoor dropped a wheel over the sausage kerb and spun off at the exit of Turn 1, which resulted in another Safety Car.
Another beneficiary of the soft tyres, Novalak had already made up 16 places after dispatching Isack Hadkjar for fourth and soon caught Correa. A spin for Fittipaldi between Turns 3 and 4 after catching the grass led to the Virtual Safety Car.
Clement Novalak crossed the line in P3 but got disqualified after the race as his cars rear tyre pressure were below the limit required.
The full top 10 are- P1: Crawford, P2: Martins, P3: Hadjar, P4: Correa, P5: Stanek, P6: Hauger, P7: Doohan, P8: Bearman, P9: Vesti and P10: Nissany.
Day 3-
From second on the grid, Vesti got the better launch at lights out, immediately snatching the lead from polesitter Victor Martins. The ART driver also lost out to teammate Theo Pourchaire by Turn 1 and his early struggles continued.
After making up five places alone on the opening lap, Iwasa was up to ninth on Lap 6. Amaury Cordeel squeezed Dennis Hauger onto the grass exiting Turn 1, leaving the door wide open for Iwasa to overtake them both.
Pourschaire was the first of the leading pack in for his mandatory stop on Lap 8, followed in by Maini and Jehan Daruvala. Doohan and Martins swiftly joined them in a lap later, whilst Vesti extended his opening stint for another lap before handing the lead over to Fittipaldi.
Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman were both in for supersofts on Lap 27. While the PREMA Racing driver rejoined at the tail end of the order in 18th, the Monegasque driver was forced to pull off to the side of the track shortly after his pitstop, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
Converted to a full Safety Car on Lap 29, the alternate strategy runners capitalised, with Verschoor completing his mandatory stop and coming out in fifth.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verschoor, P2: Iwasa, P3: Vesti, P4: Doohan, P5: Bearman, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Crawford, P9: Martins and P10: Daruvala.
Van Amersfoort Racing has confirmed that two-time race winner, Richard Verschoor will be driving for the team in next season’s Formula 2 Championship.
Verschoor, tested with the team at the post-season test at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi, finishing the first day in the car as fastest overall.
The Dutch driver will now link up with his compatriots at VAR for next year, a prospect that Verschoor says he is hugely looking forward to already.
Debuting in single seater racing back in 2016, Verschoor has shone at multiple levels since. He won at Formula 4 level before graduating to Toyota Racing Series in 2017, where he finished third overall with three victories. He went one better the following season with P2 in the series before moving into FIA Formula 3 in 2019. He was victorious in Macau that season and after two season in F3, graduated to F2.
I am extremely excited to return to the F2 grid again in 2023 and I am really happy to do so with Van Amersfoort Racing. It is special to be able to announce this on my 22nd birthday as well! As both myself and VAR have grown a lot during last year in F2, I feel very confident about the upcoming season. For me, testing with VAR during the post-season test at Abu Dhabi instantly confirmed their extreme determination to further grow, and that suits my attitude very well! It will be an exciting year and I especially look forward to racing in Melbourne, not to mention Zandvoort. I’m ready for another year of F2 excitement!
Verschoor on his new seat.
Of course, it is special to have a talented, Dutch driver like Richard as a part of our 2023 F2 line-up. It might be needless to say that we, as a Dutch team, enjoy very much the opportunity of having a countryman as part of our driver line-up, especially at this high level of racing. Last year we went on a huge learning streak, which for sure will continue into the new season. Richard brings, besides his raw talent and race craft, valuable F2 experience to the team and that will surely benefit us when it comes to further developing the car. He impressed strongly during the post-season test with us at Abu-Dhabi, setting the fastest overall time on the first day out on track. As last year, 2023 is going to be another exciting year for all of us and we look forward to the moment the lights go out for the first time in Bahrain!
Trident had only took their first F2 podium in the 2021 season, and hadn’t stood on the top step since 2016 GP2 campaign, but new recruit Verschoor had upped the chances by starting P2.
Drugovich tumbled down the timesheets to sixth as Ralph Boschung but his Campos in P2 after starting P6. The action was brought to a half as a Safety Car come out due to Marcus Armstrong being tagged by Jake Hughes. The Van Amersfoort driver was handed a 10 second time penalty.
Verschoor aced the restart as he pulled himself out of the DRS range, behind him Pourchaire didn’t have much luck as he was forced to enter the pits and retire from 5th.
Daruvala had been waiting to make a move on Boschung for 2nd and managed to stick ahead before VSC came out, due to Hughes coming to a stop on the gravel. Clement Novalak had made contact with the British driver and the MP Motorsport driver was handed a 10s time penalty.
Position
Driver
Team
Points
1
Richard Verschoor
MP Motorsport
10
2
Jehan Daruvala
PREMA Racing
8
3
Liam Lawson
Carlin
6
4
Ralph Boschung
Campos Racing
5
5
Felipe Drugovich
MP Motorsport
4
Top 5 finishers
Day 3-
Vips took the chance to take the lead of the race, as the front row had horrible starts with Boschung added in there as well. THe ones on the alternate strategy all benefited off the line with Williams, Armstrong, Caldwell and Iwasa gaining multiple positions.
The first safety car arrived three laps in as Frederick Vesti was spun to a stop. The pit stops then started, and Vips luck turned as he had a slow pit stop and put him down to 12th. This meant that Doohan basically got handed the lead- although he got through the pit stop unscathed he got tangled up with Pourchaire on his return to the track and suffered damage to his front wing meaning he had to pit again.
A five car tussle for 10th resulted in another Safety car, as Enzo Fittipaldi tagged Richard Verschoor making him stop. A flurry of activity in the pit lane led to two further retirements as Hauger and Williams both lost a tyre during their teams attempt to get them back out on track.
Position
Driver
Team
Points
1
Theo Pourchaire
ART Grand Prix
25
2
Liam Lawson
Carlin
18
3
Juri Vips
HiTech Grand Prix
15
4
Ralph Boschung
Campos Racing
12
5
Marcus Armstrong
HiTech Grand Prix
10
Top 5 finishers
F2 hasn’t got long to wait till more action on track, they will be returning next weekend for the second round of the season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia!
With a little over a week to go until pre-season testing in Sakhir, Richard Verschoor has claimed the last seat on the grid as he signs for Trident for 2022.
Verschoor competed in seven out of eight rounds in 2021 and finished 11th in the standings including his first victory with MP Motorsport in Sprint Race 2 at Silverstone.
The racer left the team before round 7 in Jeddah, but returned to the gird for the finale at Yas Marina with Charouz Racing System, where he finished 10th in the Feature Race.
In his first season of single-seaters in 2016, Verschoor won both the SMP and Spanish Formula 4 Championships. He then gained experience in ADAC F4, Italian F4, Formula Renault Eurocup and the Toyota Racing Series.
Verschoor then spent two seasons in Formula 3 with MP Motorsport and won the 2019 Macau Grand Prix with the dutch team.
“I’m extremely proud and motivated to join a highly-professional and winning team like Trident Motorsport for the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship,” said Verschoor. “I think we have all conditions needed to achieve important goals and experience a positive season. I cannot wait to get on track. I will give my best to take full advantage of this great opportunity.”
Trident Team Manager Giacomo Ricci added: “We are proud to welcome a driver of undisputed value like Verschoor to our team. We are motivated by the prospect of working with such a talented and experienced racer, who already proved capable to achieve outstanding goals. I think Verschoor and Williams will be an extremely solid and promising combination, and they will keep pushing each other to the next level, laying the conditions for a successful season. We cannot wait to be back on track for the 2022 season with our new lineup.”
My Opinion-
Finally! I’m glad the last seat has gone to Verschoor, as I feel like he has got a lot more to give. Hopefully him going into a new team will give him the opportunities to show what his got.
Well, Mr Richard Verschoor is back in Formula 2 this weekend, he is filling in for Enzo Fittipaldi in the Charouz car.
Fittipaldi suffered a broken heel and a lesion to his left eyebrow after a collision with Theo Pourchaire at the start of the Feature Race in Jeddah last Sunday, which means Fittipaldi wouldn’t be taking part in the final round of 2021 in Abu Dhabi.
Verschoor, has had a really good first season in Formula 2 in which he won a Sprint Race at Silverstone earlier this year, his currently sat in 10th in the championship with 55 points. He drove six rounds with MP Motorsport before having to pull out form Formula 2 due to sponsorship.
The Dutch driver has gained experience in ADAC F4, Italian F4, Formula Renault Eurocup and the Toyota Racing Series before spending two seasons in Formula 3 with MP.
“First of all, I would like to express my thoughts to Enzo,” said Verschoor. “I hope he will recover well and very soon. I’m happy to be back racing and excited to do so with Charouz Racing System, hopefully, we can end this season together on a high.”
Team owner Antonin Charouz added: “On the eve of the last round of the year, we have been forced to change our line-up, as a consequence of Enzo’s injury in Jeddah. On behalf of the whole team, I wish him again a speedy recovery, hoping to see him return on track as soon as possible. At the same time, I’m glad Richard will join our squad for this weekend in Abu Dhabi. We saw him racing during this year in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and I have to say he delivered some very interesting performances. At the wheel of the other car, we’ll continue to count on Guilherme, and we’ll do our best to support his hunt to first personal points in the series.”
My Opinion-
I’m so glad to see Richard back on track, none of the fans like to see a driver leave before the end of the season due to money especially one doing so well like Richard. I’m happy he gets this chance again, and hopefully this will lead to a confirmation on what he does in 2022.
Jordan's Track Talk 