Gabriele Minì continues Monaco mastery with fifth successive podium appearance

Gabriele Minì added yet another F2 podium in Monaco to his tally in 2026 | Credit: Formula 2

MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì added yet another podium finish in Monaco after the F2 sprint race on Saturday, extending his remarkable success at the venue with a fifth consecutive podium appearance. 

It’s a record Minì has set since his Formula Regional days back in 2022. Since then, the Italian has gone on to take back-to-back F3 Feature Race wins on the street circuit, before making the most of reverse-grid sprints to add two successive F2 podiums in Monaco. 

Few drivers have enjoyed remarkable success around the Monaco Street Circuit. However, Minì’s record stands out as a distinct landmark, continually converting strong starting positions into podiums.

“I think we always had pretty good pace in Monaco,” Minì remarked when asked by DIVEBOMB about this impeccable statistic. “Clearly, the last five years, it's always gone well,” he reflected. 

Although a fifth successive Monaco podium lifted him into a healthy 20-point lead early in the season, Minì appeared less satisfied with the overall state of the weekend, given he would be starting further down in seventh for the Sunday Feature Race. The Italian driver finished fourth in his group, with pole-sitter Rafa Câmara, Alex Dunne and Dino Beganovic ahead of him in Group A qualifying on Friday. 

“We were quick in practice, but we missed a bit in qualifying,” he said, looking back at the team’s performance a day prior. “I'm still quite happy with my performance and the team performance. We are working very hard, and we are both trying our best,” he mentioned. 

Despite lacking overall pace to some of his contenders, a big part of Minì’s season so far has been making the most of any opportunity at his disposal. As he puts it, “If you're fast enough to arrive P8, you arrive P8, and if you're fast enough to win, you try and win.”

Taking this route helped the Italian pull off an excellent recovery drive in Albert Park, after a technical issue ended his qualifying prematurely down under. Even in Canada, a big part of Minì's Feature Race podium involved staying out of trouble and moving ahead, on a day riddled with incidents and drivers tripping over each other. 

“We just sat out of trouble, and we managed to do this. So this is the most important thing so far,” he said, speaking to DIVEBOMB after his weekend in Canada, after managing to qualify only 10th on the day. 

The key to success at this iconic venue has always been to qualify well, with most races in the Principality won by those at the sharp end of the grid. It’s a trait that, despite the last two years seeing pole-sitters come a cropper, has been set in principle at the venue. 

Even in Minì's pair of F3 Feature Race wins, he did the bulk of the work on Fridays, securing pole positions for both races in Monaco by significant margins in Group qualifying, before acing the pressure test from drivers behind to take home both wins.

“Back in FRECA in 2022, we got a good quali, just missed out on pole in the last sector,” Minì added, speaking on the ability that worked well for him around the streets of Monaco. 

“In F3, we were clearly really, really quick, especially in the first year (at Monaco), in 2023. And we just put it on pole with pace. In the second year, again, we had really good pace,” he said. 

It’s no surprise to see why Minì has always been confident in the Principality. Monaco is a circuit that rewards confidence and bravery for any driver to do well. It’s a circuit that requires drivers to bring their A-game to the fore, often seeing them brush the barriers as they push to the limit in race trim, and ace the pressure from those behind. 

Gabriele Minì's two F3 wins in Monaco have been at the cornerstone of his junior career | Credit: Formula 1

And for Minì, he ensures he leaves Monaco with at least one trophy every year - one during his Formula Regional days, and now two each from his F3 and F2 days. More than a statistic, this has become a serious marker of his ability to perform under big pressure, at one of motorsport’s most demanding venues. 

However, despite all the previous success Minì achieved in Monaco earlier, there’s no doubt any silverware he takes home from the Principality might weigh the most so far in his career. 

When you are leading the championship despite not being the quickest on outright pace, every point matters. Even more so in F2, where championship battles often get close towards the end of the season. A 20-point lead in the fourth race weekend of the season is akin to a luxury, especially in a fiercely contested championship such as F2. 

“If the maximum points we can score this weekend is 10, we try to score that, you know. So that's the goal for the whole season,” he remarks, aiming to score the most he can from every race weekend.

Coincidentally, Minì starts seventh for the Feature Race, the same position as 2025 Feature Race winner Jak Crawford. Considering Monaco’s ability to throw up surprises during Feature Races, you wouldn’t exactly count the Italian out of contention just yet. Not with his speed around Monaco. 

Despite starting seventh on the grid, the Italian isn’t as fazed by what his competitors do, looking to focus on his outlook for the Sunday race. 

“Whether Rafa (Câmara) wins or finishes P2 or P3, that's not in my control. And, you know, there's nothing I can do about it. But what I can do and what I can finish at is something that I can control and that I will focus on,” he says, confident in his abilities. 

And the championship? 

“The championship only ends in December. So we'll talk about that only after Abu Dhabi in the last round,” he sums up, looking to stay in the present.