Roundup of the tenth round of the 2026 F2 season at Monza, Italy.
Nikola Tsolov arrived at Monza with a 20-point lead over Gabriele Mini, whilst Rafael Camara was a further two points behind as 22 points split the top three heading into the weekend.
Monza however produced some surprises including a rare double victory for one driver, whilst the title fight grew closer between two contenders.
Practice
Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Nico Varrone and Rafael Villagomez led the cars out onto the circuit but everyone bar AIX Racing’s Emerson Fittipaldi Junior pitted after one or two outlaps.
Fittipaldi meanwhile laid 1m 47.702 as the initial benchmark time before he twice lowered it to 1m 34.793 then 1m 33.482 before everyone else rejoined the track, with Campos’ Noel Leon setting the pace on 1m 32.715 from Martinius Stenshorne once everyone set a lap time.
The lead soon quickly changed hands several times as everyone bar Fittipaldi did their second flying laps, as MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe briefly went fastest, before Varrone displaced him momentarily until Rodin’s Alex Dunne set 1m 32.297 to lay down the benchmark.
As is traditional around Monza, the tow is important and unsurprisingly led to a queue of cars scrapping for track position ahead of their third fliers.
Goethe however encountered very little issue as he laid down 1m 32.127 to go fastest in the 25th minute, only for Dunne to post 1m 31.957 just seconds later to put himself back at the summit.
The session however was red flagged in the 29th minute after Hitech GP’s Colton Herta ran deep through the second Lesmo Curve, which sent the American spinning into the inside barriers although he emerged unharmed in the incident.
Stewards eventually weren’t able to resume the session due to the extensive damage to the barriers and fluid left on the track, which meant that Dunne topped the session.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | 1m 31.957 |
| 2 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | + 0.170 |
| 3 | Nico Varrone | VAR | + 0.506 |
| 4 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | + 0.529 |
| 5 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | + 0.560 |
| 6 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | + 0.630 |
| 7 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | + 0.634 |
| 8 | Noel Leon | Campos | + 0.705 |
| 9 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | + 0.726 |
| 10 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | + 0.728 |
| 11 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | + 0.730 |
| 12 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | + 0.931 |
| 13 | Kush Maini | ART GP | + 0.947 |
| 14 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | + 1.035 |
| 15 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | + 1.042 |
| 16 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | + 1.044 |
| 17 | John Bennett | Trident | + 1.064 |
| 18 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | + 1.189 |
| 19 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.589 |
| 20 | Mari Boya | PREMA | + 1.651 |
| 21 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | + 1.825 |
| 22 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | + 2.490 |
Qualifying
After initial installation laps then further warm-up laps after a brief spell back in the pit lane, Camara set 1m 31.900 as the initial benchmark but was bumped to third and 0.199s off Durksen who was quickest with 1m 31.701 ahead of Leon by 0.177s.
Camara responded on his second lap in the 16th minute with 1m 31.326 which nobody subsequently beat amidst a traffic crawl on the second warm-up laps for the final fliers, as Durksen eventually fell 0.057s shy in an Invicta front-row lockout for the Feature Race.
Dunne qualified third for Rodin ahead of Campos’ Leon as the pair headed their teammates with Rodin’s Stenshorne qualified fifth just ahead of Tsolov in sixth, whilst Inthraphuvasak, Miyata, Goethe and Bennett rounded out the top ten with Bennett on reverse pole for the sprint.
Camara’s two points for pole lifted him into second in the drivers’ standings on countback from Mini.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | 1m 31.326 |
| 2 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | + 0.057 |
| 3 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | + 0.146 |
| 4 | Noel Leon | Campos | + 0.255 |
| 5 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | + 0.349 |
| 6 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | + 0.410 |
| 7 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | + 0.522 |
| 8 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | + 0.550 |
| 9 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | + 0.677 |
| 10 | John Bennett | Trident | + 0.712 |
| 11 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | + 0.745 |
| 12 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | + 0.773 |
| 13 | Mari Boya | PREMA | + 0.773 |
| 14 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | + 0.781 |
| 15 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 0.904 |
| 16 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | + 0.910 |
| 17 | Nico Varrone | VAR | + 0.977 |
| 18 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | + 1.065 |
| 19 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | + 1.078 |
| 20 | Colton Herta | Cadillac | + 1.083 |
| 21 | Kush Maini | ART GP | + 1.087 |
| 22 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | + 1.509 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Bennett led from pole but Goethe got passed by Inthraphuvasak on the outside of Variante del Rettifilo for second, whilst Durksen took fourth from Miyata then soon afterwards cleared Goethe for third.
Durksen then cleared Inthraphuvasak for second on lap five into Variante del Rettifilo, whilst Varrone spun Camara out after he ran into the back of the Brazilian on the exit due to a slow-exiting Miyata.
Racing resumed on lap seven as Leon passed Stenshorne into Parabolica only to be repassed a lap later.
Up front, Durksen bided his time until lap nine when he passed Bennett into Variante del Rettifilo for the lead, which he subsequently held to the checkered flag but kindly kept Bennett within his DRS range to ensure that the pair wouldn’t come under late pressure.
Goethe meanwhile cleared Stenshorne for third on lap 16 before the safety car was deployed due to a spin for Bilinski on the exit of Ascari on that lap.
Racing resumed on lap 20 and Leon then Tsolov demoted demoted Stenshorne to sixth by the checkered flag, as Dunne and Van Hoepen rounded out the top eight.
Tsolov consequently extended his title lead over Camara and Mini to 24 points after he was the only member of the leading trio to finish in the points.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | 21 | 36m 38.663 |
| 2 | John Bennett | Trident | 21 | + 1.263 |
| 3 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 1.818 |
| 4 | Noel Leon | Campos | 21 | + 2.284 |
| 5 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 21 | + 3.708 |
| 6 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | 21 | + 4.160 |
| 7 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | 21 | + 4.306 |
| 8 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | 21 | + 4.754 |
| 9 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | 21 | + 5.241 |
| 10 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 5.4.92 |
| 11 | Nico Varrone | VAR | 21 | + 5.695 |
| 12 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | 21 | + 6.584 |
| 13 | Mari Boya | PREMA | 21 | + 7.235 |
| 14 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | 23 | + 7.555 |
| 15 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | 21 | + 8.042 |
| 16 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | 21 | + 8.574 |
| 17 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 21 | + 8.861 |
| 18 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 21 | + 9.104 |
| 19 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | 21 | + 10.556 |
| 20 | Kush Maini | ART GP | 21 | + 12.176 |
| RET | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | 15 | Spin |
| RET | Rafael Camara | Invicta | 4 | Collision |
Feature Race
At lights out, Camara got a solid getaway but cut Variante del Rettifilo to hand the lead to Durksen, although he was able to repass him at Rettifilo on lap 3 yet Durksen retook the lead at the same corner a lap later.
Invicta pitted Durksen at the end of lap 5 and left Camara out for two more laps but the Brazilian was repassed by Durksen for the net lead, which became the race lead once more for the Paraguayan on lap 12 when Fittipaldi on the alternative soft-tyre strategy stopped.
Inthraphuvasak meanwhile jumped Dunne for third at the start but was jumped by the Irishman in their pit-stop phase for net third place.
The race though was under a safety car at time of Fittipaldi’s stop after Herta crashed at the Parabolica on lap 10, and Fittipaldi used the safety car to do a double stop as he switched from soft to super-soft tyres initially, then back to the soft tyre on lap 13.
Racing resumed on lap 17 as Durksen endured a race-long battle battle against Camara who initially fought off Dunne, which caused the Rodin driver to cut the Variante della Roggia and rejoin behind Leon in fourth.
Dunne eventually slipped to sixth after Bennett and Miyata cleared him in the closing laps.
Up front, Durksen successfully held off Camara by 0.4s at the checkered flag to take a record-equalling eighth F2 victory of his career, as he completed a rare F2 double-victory in a single round, although his car caught alight on the cooldown lap but he was still able to make it to the podium to celebrate his win.
Leon finished third from Bennett, Miyata, Dunne, Tsolov, Inthraphuvasak, Goethe and Varrone.
In the drivers’ standings, Camara cut his title deficit to Tsolov down to just 11 points – having taken the bonus point for fastest lap, whilst Mini found himself 30 points adrift.
F2 now head to Madrid, Spain, on the weekend of 11-13 September for the final leg of the European phase of the season, which is followed by a trip to Baku, Azerbaijan from 24-26 September, before potential trips to Qatar and Abu Dhabi in late November and early December if the season stays as scheduled.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | 30 | 51m 05.855 |
| 2 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | 30 | + 0.4 |
| 3 | Noel Leon | Campos | 30 | + 4.6 |
| 4 | John Bennett | Trident | 30 | + 8.0 |
| 5 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | 30 | + 8.3 |
| 6 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | 30 | + 9.3 |
| 7 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 30 | + 9.6 |
| 8 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | 30 | + 10.4 |
| 9 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 30 | + 14.2 |
| 10 | Nico Varrone | VAR | 30 | + 15.1 |
| 11 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | 30 | + 15.9 |
| 12 | Laurens Van Hoepen | Trident | 30 | + 16.5 |
| 13 | Mari Boya | PREMA | 30 | + 17.6 |
| 14 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | 30 | + 17.9 |
| 15 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | 30 | + 20.6 |
| 16 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | 30 | + 21.0 |
| 17 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 30 | + 24.5 |
| 18 | Kush Maini | ART GP | 30 | + 26.8 |
| 19 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 30 | + 30.0 |
| 20 | Enzo Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | 30 | + 31.5 |
| 21 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | 30 | + 62.5 |
| RET | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | 9 | Crash |

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