Minì and Beganovic explore the different levels of car breakage
F2 arrived in Australia for the first round of the 2026 season and if you feel like you don’t know who anyone is or you’re yet to choose your new favourite driver then don’t forget to read this informative and definitely accurate guide.
Practice: Minì’s car breaks a bit
The drivers were so excited to get back at it that they didn’t even care that it was Practice and not a race, with Emerson Fittipaldi and Dino Beganovic adventuring off track together, Gabriele Minì clipping John Bennett and losing a bit of his wing, Rafael Villagómez journeying through a gravel trap and Alex Dunne sliding through the grass. Colton Herta took it all a bit too far though when he lost control going into a corner, resulting in a spin, broken car and red flag.
The session got back underway with twenty minutes to go. Minì was flying on track while Laurens van Hoepen was flying through the gravel. That was until Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak crashed, bringing out another red flag. Minì then caused further drama as his car broke while he attempted to return to the pits. He didn’t make it and the marshals had to come and rescue him. Once Inthraphuvasak and Minì were tidied away, there were three minutes left in the session but no one beat Minì who topped the timesheets, with Noel León second and Rafael Câmara third.
Qualifying: Minì’s car breaks a lot
The first phase of Qualifying only lasted ten minutes courtesy of Mari Boya who crashed, telling his team, “I’m in the wall,” before screaming, “no, no, NOOO!” with increasing anguish. It was haunting to listen to. Once the track was clear, they all headed back out, apart from Minì who once more had to deal with a broken car, as indicated by the universal signal of F2 troubles – sitting in the pits with the engine cover off.
At the traditional 15 minute lull, Nikola Tsolov was on provisional pole, with Martinius Stenshorne second and Câmara third, but that was all about to change as they started their final runs. Even Minì made it back out, for a few minutes, before his car stopped at the side of the track. The red flags flew while the drivers headed back in. Normally the clock would pause during a red flag in Qualifying, however everything had already taken too long and more important things needed doing (like F1), so the clock continued ticking away until only three minutes were left and they were finally released back on track. One lap to get it right. First came Dunne, then Stenshorne, then Beganovic. Behind them was only shenanigans, with Villagómez overtaking Cian Shields and Fittipaldi as they all clambered to find space on track. No one could go faster. Beganovic took pole, with Stenshorne and Dunne behind him.
Sprint Race: Beganovic’s car breaks a bit
Inthraphuvasak had pole position for the reverse-grid Sprint Race, having qualified in tenth. Joshua Dürksen started behind him in second and Oliver Goethe in third. With the over exuberance and supreme confidence of young racing drivers on the cusp of F1, Goethe said he wanted to fight for the race win, Dürksen was holding onto the positive feelings of having won last year and Inthraphuvasak was hoping for a good race.
Inthraphuvasak got all he hoped for at the start, getting away nicely and keeping the lead, while Goethe managed to overtake Dürksen, taking second and dropping Dürksen to third, with Kush Maini in fourth. Dürksen didn’t give up though, sending it straight back past Goethe, with Maini following through as well. Such an overtaking flurry seemed to cause some kind of small panic for Goethe as he spun all on his own, ending up in last place, until Nico Varrone also spun and was even more last.
Dürksen kept up the overtaking momentum, soon powering by Inthraphuvasak for the lead of the race, while Maini battled Câmara over third. Câmara tried, and failed, to overtake Maini but his failed attempt allowed León, behind him, to make his own move, sneaking by Câmara to take fourth for himself. Although León was probably just happy to get away from the bashy bashy situation behind him that was Stenshorne, Dunne and Tsolov, which resulted in Stenshorne getting a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. His engineer informed him, “Ok mate, you’ve got a penalty for when Tsolov pushed you off track”.
After Beganovic had taken a random pit stop and relieved Varrone of last place, everyone decided they wanted to try to snatch the final podium position away from Maini. León quickly succeeded with his overtake, while Maini defended hard against Câmara but ultimately to no avail as Câmara also made it through, followed soon after by Stenshorne and Dunne.
By this point, Minì, who started 21st after his disastrous qualifying, was somehow up to 11th, probably helped by all the events happening in front of him, like Tsolov going wide and losing a load of places, and Herta and Tsolov making contact, causing Tsolov to spin. As they all drove around in little groups of four, constantly overtaking and nudging each other, Minì made his way up to sixth, flying by fellow Alpine junior driver Dunne.
Meanwhile, further back, Villagómez had spun himself and was now taking a grass detour, while Boya crashed. He was ok, but the car was not and the Safety Car was deployed.
Those at the back (Herta, Villagómez, Tsolov, Shields, Goethe, Varrone and Beganovic) all pitted in the hope that new super soft tyres would enable them to fly their way through the field in the closing laps. This did not work. Up front, Dürksen remained unbothered after the restart and even pulled a small gap from Inthraphuvasak behind him, who was himself under pressure from León, who eventually made it past to take second place. Câmara attempted to replicate this battle with Inthraphuvasak, but with less success as he ended up losing a place to Stenshorne instead. This déjà vu moment was the beginning of the end for Câmara who suddenly lost places hand over fist. It didn’t look much better for Inthraphuvasak, who was overtaken by Stenshorne and Dunne, but luckily for him there wasn’t time for more as it was the end of the race.
Dürksen crossed the line first, with León second and Stenshorne third on the road, although his penalty dropped him down to tenth, leaving Dunne with the final podium spot. At the press conference, Dürksen said he was happy with his approach of overtaking at the beginning and then winning (I paraphrase), while León also discussed his approach of “just full send and hope for the best”. Dunne described his race as “not too bad”. He didn’t really think he’d had the pace for third but his experience helped him manage the race, mentioning that he had been playing it on the safe side, something Martins probably would have wished he had done last year.
Feature Race: Beganovic’s car breaks a lot
Beganovic was on pole, with Stenshorne starting second and Dunne third. Beganovic’s plan was to have a good start, however things didn’t go to plan and his terrible start saw him drop down to fifth, behind Stenshorne (who took the race lead), Dunne, Tsolov and Câmara. To make Beganovic feel better about his start Dürksen went for something even worse, as he accidentally rolled forward before the start, managed to stop in time but then stalled and was left with everyone overtaking him as he tried to get going again. The stewards then issed him a five-second penalty for a false start. In the background there were cars all over the place, with Goethe and León bashing into each other and debris flying about, but they all kept going.
On the second lap, Dunne decided there would be no more playing it on the safe side, battling teammate Stenshorne hard for the lead. They were side by side for several corners until Dunne finally managed to use DRS (yes that is still a thing in F2) to get by Stenshorne. Sadly, things didn’t end there as Dunne proceeded to cut across Stenshorne, crashing into him and taking them both out. Cue distraught faces on the Rodin team pit wall and angry radio messages, with Stenshorne shouting the classic, “Mate, Alex is so stupid, he just cut straight in front of me. Amazing, amazing”, while Dunne opted for the more unique, “Yeah… I can see how this year is going to go, nice job. He is never finishing in front of me ever again.” I’m sure the team debrief was lovely, particularly after the stewards handed Dunne a five-place grid drop for the next Feature Race for causing a collision.
With Rodin the clear losers in the situation, the clear winners were Tsolov (who was now in the lead of the race ahead of Câmara and Beganovic) and the Safety Car, who got another run out on track.
The restart was relatively drama free, albeit with some midfield overtaking, but soon it was time for the mandatory pitstops. Pirell’s advice was to start on the harder tyres, so naturally 20 of the 22 drivers started on the softer tyres, meaning it was time for ALL the stops, with León using the opportunity to get a new nose cone after his start drama with Goethe.
After the pit-stop spree, the race lead was left to the only two drivers on the alternative strategy, Varrone and Shields, while Tsolov still led the rest of the pack, with Câmara behind him. Van Hoepen, however, had somehow jumped past Beganovic and Goethe and was now right behind Tsolov. Other pit-stop drama included Montoya getting a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, Roman Bilinski running over one of MP’s wheel guns and Maini stalling.
A few laps later and cut to a slow Beganovic trundling round the track, followed by a replay of a slow Beganovic trundling round the track. Good to capture the fast-paced racing action. His broken car eventually stopped, resulting in a Virtual Safety Car followed by a full Safety Car. A late Safety Car, the kind of moment that alternative strategy dreams are made of. Varrone and Shields immediately dived in the pits. While Shields came back out in 11th, Varrone had managed to pull out a bigger gap and, despite a terrible pit stop that seemed to see his team drop the car before all the tyres were on, came back out of the pits in the lead of the race. Confusion ensued as no one, including the Safety Car driver, had been prepared for this outcome, having already picked up Tsolov as the presumed race leader. The Safety Car driver then proceeded to try to wave Tsolov past as he needed to go and find Varrone instead. An understandably hesitant Tsolov needed some encouragement, as let’s face it, less confusing situations have led to penalties in the past, but he eventually dared to go by, with everyone else following. They eventually got everyone organised correctly (Varrone, Tsolov, Câmara) and the race was back underway.
Varrone’s fairytale was quickly cut short by Tsolov passing him and the stewards handing him a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Tsolov, up front, was given some space from the chasing pack as Câmara and Van Hoepen struggled to overtake Varrone. By the time Câmara was through, Tsolov was over three seconds ahead and despite Câmara’s best attempts after being told by his team, “We need to go!”, he couldn’t catch up. Tsolov won the race, with Câmara second and Van Hoepen third. Cue cameo appearance from Nyck de Vries, who is Van Hoepen’s mentor.
At the press conference, Tsolov described the race as “messy”, which feels like an understatement, particularly if you’re Rodin. Everyone else was just happy to be there. Lovely.
Championship Standings: Not yet broken for anyone
After Australia, Tsolov’s Feature Race win means he is leading the championship (25 points), while Câmara is second (18 points) and Van Hoepen is third (also 18 points). A quiet but consistent weekend means Ritomo Miyata is fourth (14 points) while Inthraphuvasak is fifth (13 points). Only seven drivers are yet to score a point, which feels exciting somehow. Anyway, who knows when or where the next F2 rounds will be (originally scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia) and who cares because lives are more important than sport.