2026 F2 Season Roundup: Round Eight – Belgium

Roundup of the eighth round of the 2026 F2 season at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. 

Nikola Tsolov arrived in Belgium with a 17-point lead over Gabriele Mini and on a three-race winning run following his Silverstone double, but both title contenders experienced contrasting fortunes at Spa as their title credentials were tested.

 

Practice

DAMS’ Roman Bilinski led a queue of cars out of the pit lane as the session commenced for an installation lap before everyone returned to the pit lane.

Bilinski eventually set 2m 16.137 as the initial unrepresentative benchmark lap time in the ninth minute, before Rafael Camara three minutes later posted 2m 00.057 as the representative benchmark time.

Bilinski eventually topped the opening run with 1m 59.261 ahead of Bennett by 0.278 seconds, before Tsolov posted 1m 58.927 in the 23rd minute to lower the benchmark time which wasn’t beaten for the remainder of the session.

Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) saw Nico Varrone end his session with four minutes left in the barriers at Campus after a front-end issue on his car, which ultimately curtailed the session. t

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	1m 58.927
2	Martinius Stenshorne	Rodin	+ 0.199
3	Nico Varrone	VAR	+ 0.326
4	Roman Bilinski	DAMS	+ 0.334
5	Noel Leon	Campos	+ 0.463
6	Kush Maini	ART GP	+ 0.546
7	John Bennett	Trident	+ 0.588
8	Rafael Camara	Invicta	+ 0.640
9	Laurens Van Hoepen	Trident	+ 0.802
10	Gabriele Mini	MP Motorsport	+ 0.804
11	Dino Beganovic	DAMS	+ 0.930
12	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	ART GP	+ 0.944
13	Joshua Durksen	Invicta	+ 0.998
14	Sebastian Montoya	PREMA	+ 1.087
15	Cian Shields	AIX Racing	+ 1.365
16	Ritomo Miyata	Hitech GP	+ 1.418
17	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 1.427
18	Oliver Goethe	MP Motorsport	+ 1.531
19	Emerson Fittipaldi	AIX Racing	+ 1.578
20	Colton Herta	Hitech GP	+ 1.754
21	Alex Dunne	Rodin	+ 24.704
22	Mari Boya	PREMA	+ 28.718

 

Qualifying

Fittipaldi was first out on track and set 2m 11.932 as the initial unrepresentative benchmark time but was displaced by Dunne then Stenshorne when the red flags came out with 24 minutes and 42 seconds left, after Leon spun at the top of Raidillon.

The Mexican however got going again under his own power during the stoppage and participated in the remainder of the session, but his lap times were subsequently deleted due to his breach of Article 33.5 despite having qualified 10th.

The session resumed after a five-minute delay with Leon having illegally set 1m 58.657 as the first representative benchmark in the 10th minute, but it was Dunne who set 1m 57.124 who topped the opening set of flying laps from Tsolov by 0.265s.

Camara however jumped Tsolov for second by staying out for a second flier in the first proper opening runs, which put him 0.223s off Dunne’s lap time.

There however was a second red flag with three minutes and 26 seconds left after Van Hoepen stopped on the start-finish straight with a technical issue, which saw Fittipaldi, Shields and Villagomez caught out for speeding under yellow flags before the red flag was waved.

Fittipaldi and Shields both received ten-place grid penalties for both races, whilst Fittipaldi was handed a five-place grid drop.

Once the session resumed six minutes later, Camara left it until the checkered flag to snatch pole with 1m 56.306 ahead of Inthraphuvasak by 0.039s, whilst Dunne qualified third ahead of Tsolov, Bennett, Beganovic, Durksen, Bilinski and Stenshorne.

Montoya benefitted from Leon’s exclusion to place 10th and inherited reverse-pole for the sprint.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Rafael Camara	Invicta	1m 56.306
2	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	ART GP	+ 0.039
3	Alex Dunne	Rodin	+ 0.186
4	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	+ 0.393
5	John Bennett	Trident	+ 0.453
6	Dino Beganovic	DAMS	+ 0.501
7	Joshua Durksen	Invicta	+ 0.516
8	Roman Bilinski	DAMS	+ 0.553
9	Martinius Stenshorne	Rodin	+ 0.566
10	Sebastian Montoya	PREMA	+ 0.612
11	Nico Varrone	VAR	+ 0.712
12	Kush Maini	ART GP	+ 0.779
13	Oliver Goethe	MP Motorsport	+ 0.788
14	Emerson Fittipaldi	AIX Racing	+ 0.964
15	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	+ 1.030
16	Gabriele Mini	MP Motorsport	+ 1.089
17	Colton Herta	Hitech GP	+ 1.203
18	Laurens van Hoepen	Trident	+ 1.535
19	Cian Shields	AIX Racing	+ 1.767
20	Mari Boya	PREMA	+ 2.222
21	Ritomo Miyata	Hitech GP	+ 2.989
22	Noel Leon	Campos	No Time

Sprint Race

Montoya initially made a clean start to retain his lead from Stenshorne whilst Durksen passed Bilinski for third as the Polish DAMS driver made a poor start and slid to ninth in the order as Beganovic, Bennett, Tsolov, Dunne and Camara all gained positions into the top eight.

Up front, Stenshorne maximised his slipstream to sweep around the outside of Montoya into Les Combes to take the lead.

Montoya eventually couldn’t keep pace with the Norwegian and lost second to Durksen on lap six just before the safety car was deployed, owing to a spin for Shields at Malmedy.

Racing resumed on lap eight and two laps later, Beganovic passed Montoya for third before the safety car was redeployed on lap 14 after Bennett spun and stalled out of Blanchimont a lap earlier.

Racing once again resumed at the end of lap 17 but the top three held position on the final lap, whilst Tsolov dived up the inside of Montoya at La Source for fourth, which led Dunne to follow through at Eau Rogue for fifth.

Montoya quickly tumbled down to ninth as Camara, Bilinski and Goethe passed him to round out the top eight.

In the drivers’ standings, Tsolov opened a 22-point lead over Mini who retired with a mechanical issue.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Joshua Durksen	Invicta	18	41m 53.482
2	Martinius Stenshorne	Rodin	18	+ 0.606
3	Dino Beganovic	DAMS	18	+ 1.273
4	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	18	+ 1.798
5	Alex Dunne	Rodin	18	+ 3.357
6	Rafael Camara	Invicta	18	+ 4.054
7	Roman Bilinski	DAMS	18	+ 4.607
8	Oliver Goethe	MP Motorsport	18	+ 5.173
9	Sebastian Montoya	PREMA	18	+ 5.867
10	Laurens van Hoepen	Trident	18	+ 6.236
11	Mari Boya	PREMA	18	+ 6.688
12	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	ART GP	18	+ 7.141
13	Colton Herta	Hitech GP	18	+ 7.524
14	Emerson Fittipaldi	AIX Racing	18	+ 8.057
15	Kush Maini	ART GP	18	+ 8.222
16	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	18	+ 8.812
17	Ritomo Miyata	Hitech GP	18	+ 19.066
18	Nico Varrone	VAR	14	+ 4 Laps
RET	John Bennett	Trident	12	Spin
RET	Gabriele Mini	MP Motorsport	11	Mechanical
RET	Noel Leon	Campos	6	Tyre
RET	Cian Shields	AIX Racing	5	Collision

 

Feature Race

At lights out, Inthraphuvasak swiftly passed pole-sitter, Camara to take the lead whilst Tsolov jumped Dunne for third.

Bennett and Beganovic were the highest-starting medium tyre runners in fifth and sixth but Beganovic stalled with a clutch issue, whilst Bennett got jumped by Durksen who too had opted for the medium tyres.

The safety car however was deployed shortly afterwards after Miyata hit the rear of Goethe’s MP Motorsport car, which left the German unable to continue whilst Miyata was able to keep his car on track despite some damage.

Mini meanwhile dived up the inside of La Source and spun Bilinski but both drivers were able to continue.

Racing recommenced at the start of lap three and Tsolov immediately attempted an outside move on Camara into La Source but got nudged wide into the gravel, which allowed Dunne and Durksen to pass the Bulgarian before Varrone and Bennett followed suit on the next two laps.

Up front, Camara cleared Inthraphuvasak on the Kemmel Straight on lap five as Durksen cleared Dunne, and the Paraguayan soon cleared Inthraphuvasak into the Bus Stop chicane as the momentum swung to the medium tyre runners.

Camara eventually conceded the lead to Durksen on the inside of Blanchimont on lap six and he and the other super-soft tyre runners pitted at the end of that lap, after Dunne had been cleared by Varrone, Bennett and Stenshorne in quick succession.

Upon re-joining the circuit after his stop, Dunne swiftly passed Inthraphuvasak for a net second place into Les Combes.

The safety car was again deployed on lap eight after Van Hoepen got wide on the exit of Malmedy and spun heavily into the inside barrier, which ricocheted him back across the circuit into the outside barrier before he came to a halt on the kerb.

Van Hoepen was unhurt in the incident but a lap later, stewards opted to throw the red flags due to the amount of debris clearance and barrier repairs required.

Racing resumed behind the safety car after a 24-minute delay and stewards opted for a rolling start with Durksen controlling the restart.

Leon however had pitted moments before the red flag was thrown to switch to the super-soft tyres, which meant he completed his mandatory stop and was able to switch to medium tyres during the stoppage and assume the net lead under Camara’s nose.

Leon, Camara and Dunne quickly demoted Shields on the restart before Camara swept around the outside of Leon into La Source on lap 13 for the net lead, with Dunne following through shortly afterwards.

Fittipaldi however spun out after he got the kerb at the entry of Malmedy on lap 13 which caused another safety car as the medium-tyre runners pitted, which gave Camara the lead from Dunne.

Racing resumed at the start of lap 15 and Tsolov cleared Inthraphuvasak into Les Combes for fourth as the top three held positions.

Durksen meanwhile worked his way up to eighth by lap 16 only to lose two positions on lap 18 as the super-soft degradation set in.

Camara up front cruised to victory whilst Inthraphuvasak and Tsolov benefitted from a five-second time penalty for Dunne to round off the podium, after Dunne was penalised for track limit breaches as were Leon and Herta.

Mini, Villagomez, Leon, Herta, Miyata and Boya completed the top ten on the road, but Leon was disqualified post race after Campos were found to had given a guest of Leon a headset with a microphone fitted whilst in the pit-lane, which contravened Article 21.5 and Appendix 5 of the sporting regulations.

Stenshorne consequently was promoted into the top ten in 10th position following Leon’s disqualification.

Beganovic meanwhile was handed a five-second time penalty for a false start despite having stalled and retired from the race at the start.

In the drivers’ standings, Tsolov extended his title lead over Mini to 27 points with Camara a further nine points behind in third.

F2 now head to the Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary for the ninth round next weekend from 24-26 July.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Rafael Camara	Invicta	21	1h 11m 20.230
2	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	ART GP	21	+ 5.458
3	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	21	+ 7.463
4	Alex Dunne	Rodin	21	+ 7.882
5	Gabriele Mini	MP Motorsport	21	+ 8.179
6	Rafael Villagomez	VAR	21	+ 10.972
7	Colton Herta	Hitech GP	21	+ 20.377
8	Ritomo Miyata	Hitech GP	21	+ 21.887
9	Mari Boya	PREMA	21	+ 23.657
10	Martinius Stenshorne	Rodin	21	+ 24.622
11	Sebastian Montoya	PREMA	21	+ 25.335
12	Cian Shields	AIX Racing	21	+ 31.803
13	Nico Varrone	VAR	21	+ 35.531
14	Joshua Durksen	Invicta	21	+ 42.458
15	John Bennett	Trident	21	+ 50.247
16	Kush Maini	ART GP	21	+ 58.970
DSQ	Noel Leon	Campos	21	Headset
RET	Roman Bilinski	DAMS	16	Mechanical
RET	Emerson Fittipaldi	AIX Racing	12	Spin
RET	Laurens van Hoepen	Trident	7	Crash
RET	Dino Beganovic	DAMS	0	Clutch
RET	Oliver Goethe	MP Motorsport	0	Damage