2026 F2 Season Roundup: Round Two – Miami

(Image credit: @Formula2)

Roundup of the second round of the 2026 F2 season as the grid reconvened in Miami after a near two-month break.

After an unplanned April break due to cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds, F2 reconvened in North America for the first time at a brand new circuit with Nikola Tsolov sat top of the championship.

This race was also considered a home race by American, Colton Herta alongside Argentina’s Nico Varrone, Brazil’s Rafael Camara plus Emerson Fittipaldi Junior, Colombia’s Sebastian Montoya, Paraguay’s Joshua Durksen, Mexico’s Noel Leon and Rafael Villagomez.

Now, here’s a full round of the second round of the 2026 F2 season in Miami, Florida, USA.

 

Practice

MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Mini was first on track and set 1m 43.520 as the initial benchmark time whilst Campos’ Noel Leon saw his session ended after nine minutes, after the Mexican spun through Turns 7 and 8 before he stalled his car.

His teammate, Tsolov however brought out the red flags just five minutes later after he stopped at Turn 12 with a mechanical issue, whilst Van Hoepen set the pace on 1m 41.686 at the time of the stoppage.

The session resumed in the 21st minute during which Invicta’s Rafael Camara briefly stalled in the pit exit, whilst Mini went fastest with 1mn 41.522 but times soon tumbled as home hero, Colton Herta was amongst those who displaced the Italian.

At the checkered flag, Herta emerged quickest with 1m 40.320 ahead of Kush Maini by 0.016 seconds, as the top 16 were covered by less than one second.

Position Driver Team Time
1 Colton Herta Hitech GP 1m 40.320
2 Kush Maini ART GP + 0.016
3 Laurens van Hoepen Trident + 0.160
4 Dino Beganovic DAMS + 0.218
5 Oliver Goethe MP Motorsport + 0.270
6 Joshua Durksen Invicta + 0.312
7 Alex Dunne Rodin + 0.326
8 Rafael Villagomez VAR + 0.350
9 Ritomo Miyata Hitech GP + 0.375
10 Gabriele Mini MP Motorsport + 0.392
11 Sebastian Montoya PREMA + 0.397
12 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak ART GP + 0.412
13 Rafael Camara Invicta + 0.415
14 Nico Varrone VAR + 0.431
15 Martinius Stenshorne Rodin + 0.452
16 Mari Boya PREMA + 0.556
17 Cian Shields AIX Racing + 1.078
18 John Bennett Trident + 1.209
19 Emerson Fittipaldi Jr AIX Racing + 1.368
20 Nikola Tsolov Campos + 2.045
21 Roman Bilinski DAMS + 2.341
22 Noel Leon Campos + 15.991

 

Qualifying

Mini was again first to hit the track and laid 1m 57.475 as the initial unrepresentative benchmark time, which he lowered to 1m 41.570 on his first proper flier.

Camara moments later however set 1m 40.441 to go fastest from Dunne and Stenshorne once everyone completed their opening runs, as nobody improved on their second stints on that run.

Beganovic, Varrone and Mini subsequently beat Camara’s lap time in the 25th minute as the final flying laps commenced, but Maini ultimately snatched his first F2 Feature Race pole position on merit with 1m 39.888, just ahead of Camara by 0.033s.

Stenshorne, Dunne, Mini, Varrone, Durksen, Goethe, Van Hoepen and Tsolov completed the top ten, as everyone bar Shields finished within one second of Maini’s pole time, with the Indian having previously held Feature Race pole in Saudi Arabia in 2024 only after pole-sitter Oliver Bearman was withdrawn.

Dunne however had a five-place Feature Race penalty from Australia which meant that he started ninth on the road.

Position Driver Team Time
1 Kush Maini ART GP 1m 39.888
2 Rafael Camara Invicta + 0.033
3 Martinius Stenshorne Rodin + 0.050
4 Alex Dunne Rodin + 0.169
5 Gabriele Mini MP Motorsport + 0.223
6 Nico Varrone VAR + 0.316
7 Joshua Durksen Invicta + 0.320
8 Oliver Goethe MP Motorsport + 0.328
9 Laurens van Hoepen Trident + 0.335
10 Nikola Tsolov Campos + 0.377
11 Dino Beganovic DAMS + 0.519
12 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak ART GP + 0.568
13 Noel Leon Campos + 0.573
14 Colton Herta Hitech GP + 0.585
15 John Bennett Trident + 0.664
16 Mari Boya PREMA + 0.666
17 Ritomo Miyata Hitech GP + 0.724
18 Emerson Fittipaldi Jr AIX Racing + 0.746
19 Rafael Villagomez VAR + 0.786
20 Sebastian Montoya PREMA + 0.790
21 Roman Bilinski DAMS + 0.910
22 Cian Shields AIX Racing + 1.269

 

Sprint Race

Tsolov led Van Hoepen from lights out but Goethe got bogged down to 10th off the line as Durksen inherited third from Varrone, whilst Dunne jumped Mini and benefitted from Goethe’s slow start to leap from seventh to fifth.

Van Hoepen however kept Tsolov honest and within one second despite losing second to Durksen on Lap 5 on the inside of Turn 17, only to repass the Paraguayan a lap later as Tsolov’s lead was never allowed to grow beyond one second throughout the race.

Dunne meanwhile bided his time in fifth as Van Hoepen passed Tsolov for the lead on Lap 13, only for the Bulgarian to repass the Dutchman two laps later just as the Irishman passed Varrone for fourth.

Tsolov and Van Hoepen briefly exchanged the lead on Lap 16 but couldn’t break away from one another as Dunne cleared Durksen on Lap 19 for third, which set up a tense finish as Tsolov and Van Hoepen again swapped the lead on Lap 21.

Tsolov though would hold the lead at the start of the final lap as Van Hoepen launched an outside move through Turn 11 to take the lead, yet the Bulgarian responded by hanging his car on the outside of Turns 17, 18 and 19 which saw him outdrag his rival to the line for victory.

Dunne meanwhile tried to take the pair up the inside of Turn 18 but touched the kerb which saw him slide briefly as he eventually settled for third, ahead of Varrone, Durksen, Stenshorne, Mini and Beganovic who completed the top eight.

Tsolov’s was his second consecutive win in his rookie campaign and saw him extend his title lead over Van Hoepen to nine points, whilst Camara’s tenth-placed finish and outside of the points dropped him to third.

Position Driver Team Laps Time
1 Nikola Tsolov Campos 23 39m 26.273
2 Laurens van Hoepen Trident 23 + 0.170
3 Alex Dunne Rodin 23 + 1.281
4 Nico Varrone VAR 23 + 4.538
5 Joshua Durksen Invicta 23 + 5.212
6 Martinius Stenshorne Rodin 23 + 5.627
7 Gabriele Mini MP Motorsport 23 + 5.770
8 Dino Beganovic DAMS 23 + 6.754
9 Noel Leon Campos 23 + 8.522
10 Rafael Camara Invicta 23 + 8.813
11 Oliver Goethe MP Motorsport 23 + 13.184
12 Ritomo Miyata Hitech GP 23 + 19.125
13 John Bennett Trident 23 + 19.686
14 Roman Bilinski DAMS 23 + 22.919
15 Colton Herta Hitech GP 23 + 27.172
16 Sebastian Montoya PREMA 23 + 28.637
17 Mari Boya PREMA 23 + 30.644
18 Cian Shields AIX Racing 23 + 48.439
RET Emerson Fittipaldi Jr AIX Racing 16 Puncture
RET Kush Maini ART GP 13 Technical
RET Rafael Villagomez VAR 9 Technical
RET Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak ART GP 9 Mechanical

 

Feature Race

Following heavy early-morning rain and lightning, stewards elected to start behind the safety car for three formation laps before a standing start, which saw Maini make a clean start to lead Camara and Durksen.

The safety car however was deployed after Inthraphuvasak spun Tsolov out at the opening corner, having hit the kerb which left him unavoidably sliding into the Bulgarian.

Racing resumed at the end of Lap 3 but a virtual safety car was swiftly deployed by the end of the next lap after Goethe lost control out of Turn 19 on the restart, which saw the German slide into the outside concrete barrier to end his race with rear suspension damage.

Maini however comfortably controlled the race as Camara and Durksen scrapped over second, whilst Beganovic cleared Mini for fourth on Lap 7.

The safety car was redeployed on Lap 10 after Dunne locked up at Turn 17 and hit the barriers at the end of the previous lap, which led many drivers except for Durksen, Herta and Bennett to pit.

Durksen subsequently led on the restart as the race went to time but was soon forced to pit when the safety car again came out after Stenshorne spun out in a collision with Varrone.

Camara consequently inherited the lead from Beganovic but a few laps later, the safety car was back on track after Shields spun out through Turns 7 and 8, which led Bennett to make a failed attempt to gamble on slicks.

Up front, Camara led Beganovic whilst Mini and Leon demoted Maini to fifth prior to Shields’ spin.

On the final restart, Camara and Beganovic initially made a break but began to struggle with their tyre wear which saw the pair soon run wide at Turn 17 with two minutes left, which led Camara to run wide at Turn 1 to slip to third behind Beganovic and Mini.

Mini eventually cleared Beganovic into Turn 17 for the lead and clung on for his first F2 victory, which he dedicated to fellow Italian, Alex Zanardi following the 59-year-old’s passing.

Tsolov though held onto his championship lead but drastically reduced to one point as Mini climbed to second and just ahead of Camara on countback.

F2 remains on the North American continent as they head to Canada for the first time on weekend of 22-24 May for the third round.

Position Driver Team Laps Time
1 Gabriele Mini MP Motorsport 25 Invertal
2 Dino Beganovic DAMS 25 + 0.9
3 Rafael Camara Invicta 25 + 2.0
4 Noel Leon Campos 25 + 2.4
5 Kush Maini ART GP 25 + 3.8
6 Ritomo Miyata Hitech GP 25 + 4.4
7 Mari Boya PREMA 25 + 7.9
8 Colton Herta Hitech GP 25 + 10.9
9 Sebastian Montoya PREMA 25 + 11.3
10 Joshua Durksen Invicta 25 + 12.3
11 Laurens van Hoepen Trident 25 + 12.6
12 Enzo Fittipaldi Jr AIX Racing 25 + 14.3
13 Nico Varrone VAR 25 + 24.8
14 John Bennett Trident 25 + 27.8
15 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak Campos 25 + 42.7
RET Cian Shields AIX Racing 17 Spin
RET Martinius Stenshorne Rodin 13 Collision
RET Rafael Villagomez VAR 9 Power
RET Alex Dunne Rodin 8 Brakes
RET Oliver Goethe MP Motorsport 3 Spin
RET Nikola Tsolov Campos 0 Spin
DNS Roman Bilinski DAMS 0 Mechanical

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