Roundup of the 12th round of the 2026 F2 season in Baku, Azerbaijan, as the title battle delivered more twists.
Nikola Tsolov arrived in Baku as the championship leader with a seven-point lead over Rafael Camara with Gabriele Mini and Alex Dunne not totally out of the mathematics for the title.
This weekend also included a bonus feature race due to the possibility of the trips to Qatar and Abu Dhabi being called off due to the Middle East conflict, which meant that a maximum of 67 points were on offer in a round which threw up plenty of twists.
Practice
Rodin’s Dunne was the first driver out onto the circuit but opted against setting a lap time after two warm-up laps, as Hitech’s Colton Herta instead set an unrepresentative 2m 23.649 ahead of his teammate, Ritomo Miyata by 0.213 seconds.
Maini however on three separate occasions lowered the benchmark time as he set 2m 17.037 then 2m 02.639, followed by 2m 00.442 in the 15th minute.
The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) however was deployed a minute later after Invicta’s Joshua Durksen locked up at Turn Three, whilst MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe locked up and hit the outside wall into Turn Five.
Rodin’s Martinius Stenshorne subsequently traded fastest laps with Maini then Dunne, with the latter sat top on 1m 57.044 with 14 minutes left in the session.
Mini briefly displaced Dunne in the 40th minute with 1m 57.033 but Dunne went 0.223s faster, before he posted 1m 56.736 at the start of the final minute.
Maini however saved his best lap until the checkered flag as he posted 1m 56.532 to top the session from Dunne by 0.204s.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Kush Maini | ART GP | 1m 56.532 |
| 2 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | + 0.204 |
| 3 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | + 0.289 |
| 4 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | + 0.495 |
| 5 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | + 0.501 |
| 6 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | + 0.778 |
| 7 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | + 0.837 |
| 8 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | + 0.928 |
| 9 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | + 0.942 |
| 10 | Mari Boya | PREMA | + 1.084 |
| 11 | John Bennett | Trident | + 1.280 |
| 12 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | + 1.360 |
| 13 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | + 1.413 |
| 14 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | + 1.997 |
| 15 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 2.065 |
| 16 | Noel Leon | Campos | + 2.273 |
| 17 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | + 2.471 |
| 18 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | + 2.665 |
| 19 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | + 2.957 |
| 20 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | + 3.341 |
| 21 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | + 14.415 |
| 22 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | + 22.935 |
Qualifying
Q1
Following a 15-minute delay due to repair of tarmac breakup at Turn Seven, Goethe was first on track and laid 2m 07.460 as the initial unrepresentative benchmark which he then lowered to 1m 59.374 in the seventh minute.
Dunne however emerged quickest in the opening stint with 1m 55.383 ahead of Maini and Stenshorne as the lead trio were split by 0.429s.
Nobody though was able to get close to Dunne’s first lap time for the remainder of the session as he took pole for the first feature race from Stenshorne, who fell 0.033s shy in second ahead of Leon, Maini, Camara, Boya, Montoya, Beganovic, Van Hoepen and Tsolov who got reverse-pole for the sprint.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | 1m 55.383 |
| 2 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | + 0.033 |
| 3 | Noel Leon | Campos | + 0.134 |
| 4 | Kush Maini | ART GP | + 0.230 |
| 5 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | + 0.238 |
| 6 | Mari Boya | PREMA | + 0.360 |
| 7 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | + 0.455 |
| 8 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | + 0.455 |
| 9 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | + 0.551 |
| 10 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | + 0.574 |
| 11 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | + 0.646 |
| 12 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | + 0.856 |
| 13 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | + 1.007 |
| 14 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | + 1.491 |
| 15 | John Bennett | Trident | + 1.549 |
| 16 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | + 1.762 |
| 17 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.844 |
| 18 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | + 2.224 |
| 19 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | + 2.253 |
| 20 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | + 2.410 |
| 21 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | + 2.484 |
| 22 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | + 2.648 |
Q2
Goethe was first again out on track but Fittipaldi set the initial benchmark of 1m 56.960 after he opted for one warm-up lap unlike everyone else.
Camara eventually topped the opening stint with 1m 54.227 ahead of Leon and Dunne, but Dunne displaced the Brazilian in the final minute with 1m 54.173 yet Stenshorne got a mega tow to snatch pole for the second feature race from his Rodin teammate by 0.445s with 1m 53.728.
Camara qualified third ahead of Boya, Maini, Leon, Van Hoepen, Tsolov, Inthraphuvasak and Montoya.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | 1m 53.728 |
| 2 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | + 0.445 |
| 3 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | + 0.499 |
| 4 | Mari Boya | PREMA | + 0.637 |
| 5 | Kush Maini | ART GP | + 0.690 |
| 6 | Noel Leon | Campos | + 0.749 |
| 7 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | + 0.767 |
| 8 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | + 0.957 |
| 9 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | + 1.243 |
| 10 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | + 1.313 |
| 11 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | + 1.391 |
| 12 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | + 1.400 |
| 13 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | + 1.555 |
| 14 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.577 |
| 15 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | + 1.589 |
| 16 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | + 1.715 |
| 17 | John Bennett | Trident | + 1.807 |
| 18 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | + 1.839 |
| 19 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | + 2.359 |
| 20 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | + 2.371 |
| 21 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | + 3.091 |
| 22 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | + 3.244 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Tsolov made a clean start to lead Van Hoepen who was demoted to third by Beganovic as the Swede swept past on the outside of Turn One to take second.
Camara however punted Boya out of the race into Turn 2 by hitting the rear of the Spaniard’s PREMA, which earned the Brazilian a 10-second time penalty as the safety car came out.
Dunne consequently climbed from tenth to sixth ahead of Leon, Stenshorne, Maini and Bilinski amidst the chaos of the opening two corners.
Racing resumed on lap four but Montoya lost fourth to Camara then Dunne followed the Brazilian through at Turn Three,.
Up front, Beganovic kept Tsolov under pressure until he passed the Bulgarian into the first corner of lap six for the lead, with Van Hoepen and Dunne following through on laps 10 and 13 respectively before Camara too passed his title rival on lap 14.
Stenshorne then demoted Montoya and Tsolov on laps 16 and 17 respectively for fifth, whilst Montoya on the latter lap was passed by Maini and Bilinski to fall out of the top eight.
Camara’s hopes of limiting his time penalty were dealt a severe blow on lap 18 when his teammate, Durksen crashed at Turn One and stalled after reversing out of the barriers, which brought the safety car back out and forced him to pit for a super-soft tyre gamble and serve his penalty.
Racing resumed on the final lap as Beganovic cruised to victory from Van Hoepen and Dunne, whilst Stenshorne and Tsolov rounded out the top five.
Maini however ran wide at Turn Four to slip to eighth behind Bilinski and Montoya.
Further back, Goethe misjudged his braking into the first corner of the final lap and clattered into his teammate, Mini which saw several cars caught in the chaos – including Camara, but only Miyata and Leon couldn’t continue to the checkered flag.
In the drivers’ standings, Tsolov extended his title lead over Camara to 11 points whilst Mini stayed third but fell 28 points behind, as Dunne cut his deficit to 35 points.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | 21 | 45m 48.207 |
| 2 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | 21 | + 1.058 |
| 3 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | 21 | + 1.476 |
| 4 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | 21 | + 1.920 |
| 5 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 21 | + 3.341 |
| 6 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | 21 | + 4.006 |
| 7 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | 21 | + 4.160 |
| 8 | Kush Maini | ART GP | 21 | + 5.698 |
| 9 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | 21 | + 6.555 |
| 10 | John Bennett | Trident | 21 | + 8.327 |
| 11 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | 21 | + 8.359 |
| 12 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 21 | + 9.297 |
| 13 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 21 | + 13.151 |
| 14 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 18.600 |
| 15 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | 21 | + 26.204 |
| 16 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 34.774 |
| 17 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | 21 | + 47.348 |
| 18 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | 21 | + 52.610 |
| RET | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | 20 | Collision |
| RET | Noel Leon | Campos | 20 | Collision |
| RET | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | 21 | Crash |
| RET | Mari Boya | PREMA | 0 | Collision |
Feature Race One
Before the race began, Montoya spun out on his way to the grid whilst Goethe, Herta and Shields opted for the alternative soft-tyre starting strategy.
At lights out, Dunne made a clean start to lead Stenshorne and Leon, whilst Camara improved to fourth ahead of Boya and Maini who fell two positions to sixth.
Beganovic then passed Maini on lap four for sixth whilst Tsolov and Van Hoepen were the first runners to pit for soft tyres on lap seven, but Tsolov suffered a slow stop which allowed several drivers to jump him as he rejoined 19th.
The safety car was however deployed on lap eight after Boya suffered a sudden power failure on the long run between Turns Two and Three, which necessitated the use of a telehandler to remove his car due to having not stopped near an escape road.
Dunne and Camara duly capitalised on the situation with cheap pit stops which left the pair second and fourth, with Dunne sandwiched between Goethe and Herta who hadn’t made their stops.
Racing resumed on lap 12 and Beganovic quickly cleared Camara for fourth whilst Dunne politely sympathised with Rodin over the “unlucky” timing of Stenshorne’s stop on his team radio, just as the Norwegian followed Beganovic through in demoting Camara to sixth.
Stewards however red flagged the race without even sending the safety car out due to a multi-car incident at Turn Three, which was made up of various contacts between Shields, Bennett, Van Hoepen, Miyata, Durksen and Tsolov who retired on the spot.
Villagomez was launched briefly airborne during the melee but was able to recover to the pit lane and continue the race when it resumed 22 minutes later under the safety car.
Once racing recommenced at full speed on lap 14, Beganovic cleared Herta for third as Stenshorne – who was listed behind Camara for the restart – and Leon demoted Camara to seventh then Herta to sixth. Camara then passed Herta a lap later to regain sixth and prompted Herta to pit at the end of that lap.
Up front, Dunne waited until lap 17 to clear Goethe whilst Stenshorne on that lap cleared Beganovic for third, which became second on lap 19 when Goethe locked up at Turn Three and slid down to fifth, before he pitted at the end of that latter lap.
Dunne subsequently cruised to his first win of the season ahead of Stenshorne, Beganovic, Camara, Leon, Mini and Bilinski.
Villagomez completed an exceptional recovery drive to eighth following a time penalty for Maini which dropped the Indian to tenth, as Yamakoshi recovered from a stall at the start to finish ninth in his very first F2 Feature Race.
In the drivers’ standings, Tsolov’s retirement meant that Camara snatched the title lead by one point from the Campos driver, whilst Dunne climbed to third with the fastest lap bonus points which left the Irishman eight points adrift in third ahead of Mini who sat 21 points behind in fourth.
Tsolov’s nightmare weekend worsened post race as he was handed a three-place grid penalty for the second feature race, having been found guilty of crossing the white line at pit entry and consequently would start that race 11th on the grid instead of eighth.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | 23 | 1h 11m 45.095 |
| 2 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | 23 | + 4.395 |
| 3 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | 23 | + 6.614 |
| 4 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | 23 | + 7.669 |
| 5 | Noel Leon | Campos | 23 | + 7.719 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 10.874 |
| 7 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | 23 | + 11.151 |
| 8 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 23 | + 15.376 |
| 9 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | 23 | + 16.509 |
| 10 | Kush Maini | ART GP | 23 | + 19.176 |
| 11 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | 23 | + 20.759 |
| 12 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | 23 | + 24.121 |
| 13 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | 23 | + 59.572 |
| 14 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 61.765 |
| RET | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 11 | Collision |
| RET | John Bennett | Trident | 11 | Collision |
| RET | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | 11 | Collision |
| RET | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | 11 | Collision |
| RET | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | 11 | Collision |
| RET | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 11 | Collision |
| RET | Mari Boya | PREMA | 7 | Power |
| DNS | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | 0 | Spin |
Feature Race Two
At lights out, Stenshorne protected his lead from Dunne and Camara whilst Leon jumped Boya for fourth into the opening corner.
Bennett meanwhile got spun out by Villagomez at the first corner after the latter was squeezed by Bilinski who was on the inside line.
Racing resumed at the end of lap two with Stenshorne under pressure from Dunne until the latter pitted at the end of lap six, just as a Virtual Safety Car was deployed after Miyata stopped on the inside of Turn Seven and wasn’t withdrawn until lap eight.
Stenshorne pitted at the end of lap nine and rejoined just in front of Dunne in fifth but the Irishman maximised his warm tyres to pass his teammate for the net lead, before Camara pitted on the next lap and rejoined in the net lead behind Goethe who hadn’t pitted.
Dunne proceeded to wait patiently on that lap before he cleared Camara towards the line for the net lead, which became the actual race lead, yet the Irishman was hit with a five-second time penalty on lap 14 for having crossed the white line at pit entry when he pitted.
Tsolov meanwhile started 11th on the grid but his decision to run long until the end of lap 10 saw him rejoin sixth and quickly cleared Van Hoepen for net fourth, which became third on the road on lap 22 when he cleared Stenshorne over the line.
Stenshorne proceeded to back off and settled for fourth but Dunne was unable to build a five-second gap up front which handed victory to Camara from Tsolov and the Irishman.
Van Hoepen finished fifth in front of Boya, Beganovic, Leon and Mini, whilst Bilinski fought off Goethe to the line to snatch the final point in tenth.
In the drivers’ standings, Camara extended his title lead over Tsolov to seven points with Dunne now 18 points behind the Brazilian in third, whilst Mini is 44 points behind and needing a miraculous final two rounds to snatch the title if they go ahead.
F2’s season is unclear beyond this round due to the Middle East conflict, meaning that their planned trips to Qatar and Abu Dhabi on weekends of 27-29 November and 4-6 December respectively could be cancelled and mean that Camara is crowned champion in that scenario.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Rafael Camara | Invicta | 29 | 59m 57.958 |
| 2 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 29 | + 0.747 |
| 3 | Alex Dunne | Rodin | 29 | + 4.310 |
| 4 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin | 29 | + 5.856 |
| 5 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | 29 | + 13.521 |
| 6 | Mari Boya | PREMA | 29 | + 13.890 |
| 7 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | 29 | + 15.552 |
| 8 | Noel Leon | Campos | 29 | + 17.285 |
| 9 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | 29 | + 24.073 |
| 10 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS | 29 | + 24.415 |
| 11 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 29 | + 24.637 |
| 12 | Kush Maini | ART GP | 29 | + 37.489 |
| 13 | Joshua Durksen | Invicta | 29 | + 39.080 |
| 14 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | 29 | + 42.145 |
| 15 | Colton Herta | Hitech GP | 29 | + 44.048 |
| 16 | Emerson Fittipaldi | AIX Racing | 29 | + 44.973 |
| 17 | Sebastian Montoya | PREMA | 29 | + 77.168 |
| 18 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 29 | + 105.633 |
| RET | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 16 | Mechanical |
| RET | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART GP | 8 | Crash |
| RET | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech GP | 5 | Damage |
| RET | John Bennett | Trident | 0 | Collision |
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