Maini takes F2 pole once again in difficult Hungary qualifying
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
ART's Kush Maini capitalised on his strengths around the Hungaroring to take a second Formula 2 pole in 2026 for the latest weekend in Hungary. In a close shootout towards the end, he would prevail by 0.117 seconds from Invicta's Rafa Câmara, with Campos' Noel León shooting up to third on his final run in a tricky qualifying session for F2's challengers.
The other Invicta of Joshua Dürksen ended up fourth, ahead of ART's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in fifth, marking a great day for the French team. Trident's Laurens van Hoepen set a strong lap at the end of the session to take him to sixth, ahead of championship leader Nikola Tsolov.
It was DAMS racer Dino Beganovic in eighth, with MP Motorsport's Gabriele Minì and PREMA's Sebastián Montoya rounding out the top 10.
Montoya will start on reverse grid pole for the Saturday sprint race once again, and here's how it all played out in one of F2's most important qualifying sessions of the season!
AS IT UNFOLDED - F2 Qualifying in Hungary
Qualifying at the Hungaroring was expected to be yet another hard-fought affair. With the track unofficially known as Monaco without walls due to the difficulty in overtaking, qualifying would be key to decide the outcome of the race weekend for all the drivers.
In warmer conditions, drivers would be on edge all through, with Invicta's Joshua Dürksen sliding into Turn 13 before having an off-track excursion similar to his free practice session earlier in the day. He would go again on his flying lap.
Among the drivers setting the quickest times, it was championship leader Tsolov setting the quickest time, at a 1:29.601, ahead of second-placed Gabriele Minì and the Rodin of Martinius Stenshorne.
Several drivers opted to wait for slightly later in the session before going out onto the track, in a bid to utilise the clean air around the narrower Hungaroring circuit. This included Dürksen's teammate and Spa winner Rafa Câmara, Campos' Noel León and the ART duo of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Kush Maini.
DAMS racer Dino Beganovic would also experience a moment of oversteer at the exit of Turn 7, going onto the grass on his lap. He still sat fourth in the order, looking to back up his session-topping pace from Free Practice.
Câmara would once again find the top of the timesheets halfway into the session, setting a 1:29.380, ahead of León and Maini, who had lifted himself to third. VAR's Rafael Villagómez too lifted himself upto fifth, making use of the more rubbered in track and the clean air.
Elsewhere, Hitech's Ritomo Miyata would improve his position to 12th, but the spotlight was once again on Câmara, who stayed out on the same set of tyres. The Brazilian managed to better his existing benchmark by 57 milliseconds, with 10 minutes to go in the session as he returned to the pits.
Onto the final set of flying laps, it would be key for all drivers to find more time, especially as the session, as they headed back onto the track for their final flying laps.
Despite a moment of oversteer, Tsolov made his way towards the top of the times, despite a moment of oversteer into Turn 9. He would be beaten comfortably by the Invicta of Dürksen, before Maini eclipsed his time even further, setting a 1:28.896. Inthraphuvasak backed up this effort by going up to third, with ART setting an early benchmark.
However, the all-conquering Câmara and Dunne had only just emerged onto the track for their final flying laps. The conditions on track proved yet more difficult, with drivers struggling to maintain the tyre all through the lap.
Despite being up on Maini's time through the two sectors, the Brazilian driver wouldn't be able to score a third pole in a row, ending up second after having a moment of oversteer at the final corner. León would also recover through the session, qualifying up in third, while Dunne's difficult session saw him end up 17th, and a pristine top four record through the season coming to an end.
Here's how it all played out after 30 minutes of qualifying around the Hungaroring!
Classification - F2 qualifying in Spa
Kush Maini (ART Grand Prix)
Rafa Câmara (Invicta Racing)
Noel León (Campos Racing)
Joshua Dürksen (Invicta Racing)
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (ART Grand Prix)
Laurens van Hoepen (Trident)*
Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing)
Dino Beganovic (DAMS)
Gabriele Minì (MP Motorsport)
Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing)
Martinius Stenshorne (Rodin Motorsport)
Rafael Villagómez (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Ollie Goethe (MP Motorsport)
John Bennett (Trident)
Emerson Fittipaldi Jr (AIX Racing)
Nicolás Varrone (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport)
Colton Herta (Hitech TGR)
Cian Shields (AIX Racing)
Roman Bilinski (DAMS)
Ritomo Miyata (Hitech TGR)
Mari Boya (PREMA Racing)
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