Dürksen praises “round the outside” moves in Melbourne F2 sprint: “It was my only chance to make the move”

Invicta Racing’s Joshua Dürksen took his fifth Formula 2 win in the opening sprint race of 2026 in Melbourne. Key to the Paraguayan’s victory charge were two crucial overtakes around the outside of Turns 9 and 10, leaving him untroubled ever since. 

Dürksen took his first win for Invicta in Melbourne | Credit: Formula 1

Having started on the front row for the 23-lap sprint, Dürksen initially lost a place to MP Motorsport’s Ollie Goethe off the five red lights. Yet, this would only be for all of one sector, as the Invicta racer made his way around the outside of Turn 9 on the same lap, reclaiming the position. 

Only two laps later, Dürksen would pull off another overtake at the same spot, even locking up into the fast corner. Yet, he would hold on, taking an unassailable race lead from there on. 

“It was my only chance to make the move,” the Melbourne sprint winner implied, mentioning the timeliness of those overtakes. “I just made sure to overtake as quickly as possible, before I got stuck in DRS trains.”

“It worked pretty well, so from that point onwards I could just manage my tyres, manage the pace and just bring it home,” he concluded, speaking on his overtakes during the sprint.

Tyre degradation proved a critical element in the sprint, with drivers such as Dürksen’s teammate, Rafael Câmara, also losing several positions late in the race, after finding himself regularly off the racing line and finding dirt on his tyres. 

With F2 utilising a softer tyre compound allocation for this year’s Australian weekend, Dürksen mentioned the extra care drivers would have to take to protect the rubber and avoid sliding down the order once the tyres run out of grip. 

“The medium (last year) was holding quite well during all the race, but with the soft tyres this year, for sure you feel that there's more degradation, so you need to be careful.

“Luckily, Melbourne is not a track which is so aggressive on the tyres anyway, so it's a bit easier to drive. But still, with the softer compound, you still need to be careful because you can destroy them quite easily if you don't do it well,” Dürksen concluded, speaking of the challenge at hand. 

Much like the opening sprint of 2025, the Invicta racer had to negotiate a tense safety car period during the race, caused after PREMA Racing’s Mari Boya went into the barriers at Turn 6. Dürksen controlled the field effectively off the safety car restart, choosing to bolt away at Turn 11, as he caught second-placed Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak off guard. 

This allowed Dürksen to open up the crucial gap of one second, putting him away from any imminent threats in the last five laps towards victory. 

“Luckily, I managed to have a good safety car restart. I think I broke the one-second gap just before T1 already, so that was very important, very good because I know that once the guy (behind) is inside the DRS range, it will be difficult,” the five-time F2 winner expressed, vindicating his decision to lead the field into green flag running early. 

“It was very important to have this one-second gap before Turn 1, and then just creating a bigger gap. So yeah, luckily the safety car restart went well,” he concluded. 

Taking his opportunities and eventually claiming victory helped Dürksen replicate last year's feat. For the second year in succession, the Paraguayan took the opening sprint win of the year in Melbourne, after claiming victory in the Feature Race at Abu Dhabi. He is the only driver to have completed this feat of winning successive races across seasons, as he aims to make the most of the opportunities given to him. 

“For sure, I can't complain with a victory. I mean, I'm very happy that I got the first victory of the season, and with Invicta. For sure, it's the sprint race; the main goal is to have this kind of victory spot on the future race for sure.

"That's the target, and I think we will have to pace for it, but we have to maximise every opportunity. This time, I had the opportunity to win the sprint race, so we did it. We got some good points, but for sure, we will keep working to get more points, which is in the Feature Race,” Dürksen concluded.   

The Paraguayan believes this victory gives him a shot in the arm and plenty of motivation to push on ahead of a big season with his team. 

“It's just the best way to start the season, and of course, it gives a big boost in confidence and a very good moment. I think with Invicta, we know that we have the pace, and I think I'm adapting quite well to them. The work has been very good until now, so for sure this victory is a very big push and a big motivation to keep going like this.

“I think last year I had also very good pace in Australia already so I think I really I think Melbourne kind of fits me,” Dürksen expressed, speaking on his belief and progress with his new team. 

The Paraguayan driver will be looking to add to this points tally when he starts from ninth on the grid for the Feature Race on Sunday, at 11:20 local time (00:20 GMT).