Formula 2 Preview: Miami

Written by Jasmin Low, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri

Having played host to Formula 1 since 2022, Formula 2 will make its North American debut at the 2026 Miami Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

Formula 2 is set to make an unprecedented appearance at the Miami Grand Prix this weekend, marking the championship’s North American debut. The revised calendar will see F2 go racing twice in May, replacing the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, scheduled to take place in April. 

First appearing on the Formula One calendar in 2022, the Miami International Autodrome coils for 3.363 miles (5.412km) around Hard Rock Stadium, featuring 19 turns. 

A lap at the Miami International Autodrome opens with a low-speed corner, requiring drivers to run wide on the exit to take Turn 2 at full throttle. While Turn 3 is long and sweeping, it is swiftly juxtaposed with the fastest left-hander on the circuit, which joins onto another right-hander. 

Turns 6 and 7 will be the toughest to master, challenging drivers’ ability to stick to the racing line and minimise wear on their front-right tyre. 

The circuit flattens out until drivers reach Turn 11, flying through the first DRS zone before entering another twisty section beginning with a left-hand hairpin. While navigating this series of slow-speed corners, drivers will be setting themselves up for the best possible exit from Turn 16, again tearing down the long back straight through the second DRS zone. 

Another heavy braking zone exists at the end of the straight into Turn 17, before Turns 18 and 19 are flat-out, bringing the drivers back onto the main straight, and to the final DRS zone on the track, for a lap around the circuit. 

Elevation changes are scattered throughout the circuit as well, the main ones being between Turns 13 to 16, and through the chicane at Turns 14 and 15. 

Miami can be thought of as a circuit that combines elements of other tracks found on the calendar, with similarities to circuits like Baku, Silverstone, and Albert Park, which also appear on the F2 calendar. As such, although no driver has raced F2 machinery at the circuit before, it may play into the strengths of drivers with greater experience in the championship. 

In particular, the street-circuit feel of Albert Park, which F2 most recently raced at, and high-speed corners likened to those found at Silverstone, will provide a sense of familiarity to returning F2 drivers and those who have stepped up from Formula 3. 

Turns 1, 11, and 17 have been labelled as prime overtaking spots around Miami, all of which sit at the end of a DRS zone. 

F2 will go racing for 23 laps on Saturday before lining up for a 32-lap Feature Race on Sunday. Drivers and their Teams will have 45 minutes to get their cars dialled in before the 30-minute qualifying on Friday. 

Timings:

Friday, 01 May, 2026

Free Practice 1 - 09:30 - 10:15 local (13:30 - 14:15 GMT)

Qualifying - 14:30 - 15:00 local (18:30 - 19:00 GMT)

Saturday, 02 May, 2026

Sprint Race (23 laps) - 10:00 - 10:50 local (14:00 - 14:50 GMT)

Sunday, 03 May, 2026

Feature Race (32 laps) - 12:30 - 13:35 local (16:30 - 17:35 GMT)

The championship

With one round in the books, 2025 F3 runner-up Nikola Tsolov leads the way after winning the Feature Race. Rafael Câmara and Laurens van Hoepen, who joined Tsolov on the Feature Race podium, sit in joint-second with 18 points, with van Hoepen being the only one of the top three to score in both the Sprint and Feature races. 

Also looking quick throughout the opening weekend was Dino Beganovic, who claimed pole position ahead of Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne and Alexander Dunne. A retirement from the Feature Race for the Swedish driver left him without a major points haul. 

Dunne’s podium would come on the Saturday, joined on the podium by Noel León and Sprint Race winner Joshua Dürksen after starting eighth. 

Campos Racing hold a six-point lead over Invicta Racing in the Teams’ Championship, with AIX Racing and Van Amersfoort Racing being the only teams yet to put points on the board.