The winners and losers from F2’s action-packed weekend in Spa
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
Invicta’s Rafa Câmara delivered a telling performance in Sunday’s Feature Race, backing up teammate Joshua Dürksen’s effort in the sprint race on Saturday. A team effort sees them make up massive ground in the standings.
However, plenty of surprises unfolded across the weekend in Spa, as DIVEBOMB picks out the winners and losers from the race weekend.
Winner: Rafa Câmara
Following the sprint race, Invicta’s Rafa Câmara aimed to make it a double victory for his team, and keep up the momentum for the team in yellow over the course of the Spa weekend.
Teammate Joshua Dürksen had just taken the sprint win from fourth on the grid, showcasing that the car had more pace to move forward from their grid slots. Câmara, though, had spearheaded their charge in qualifying, putting in a stellar lap at the end to claim a fourth pole of the season.
But for the Brazilian driver, the challenge was more than just scoring points on the board. It was about converting a strong starting position into the ultimate result, something he had managed to do only once, back in Barcelona.
Câmara had also spoken of finding the mental balance in stringing together his weekends, and if his Feature Race at Spa was any indication, it was the perfect showing he was seeking all season.
Starting on the less durable supersoft tyres, the Invicta man needed to hold on to the race lead, and he would do well to reclaim the lead he lost to the fast-starting ART of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. Câmara would also get his elbows out, banging tyres and fending off an opportunistic Tsolov around the outside of Turn 1.
He would open up a 1.8-second gap before the supersoft tyres ran out of grip, and a clean pit stop saw him keep his position to the rest of the field.
After the red flag, he would measure his opportunities to cut through the traffic, going around the outside of Noel León into Turn 1, before finding his way around Roman Bilinski’s DAMS at the Les Combes chicane.
When his closest competitors for the win found themselves exceeding track limits, Câmara kept it clean to extend the gap to over three seconds. Victory with the fastest lap was the perfect way to cap off an excellent weekend, as he claimed 28 points to add to his championship tally. He now sits 36 points away from championship leader Tsolov.
Loser: DAMS
Heading into Spa, the DAMS pairing of Bilinski and teammate Dino Beganovic were looking ahead to a strong weekend. A tough couple of rounds for the Swedish driver had pushed him towards making some changes to the way he approached race weekends and finding a way back to the top.
Qualifying presented a strong cause for optimism, with both drivers delivering crucial laps to finish sixth and eighth.
Bilinski would start third for the sprint race on Saturday; however, a poor start would see him drop from third to ninth on the road.
The door instead opened up for teammate Beganovic, who managed to put in a crucial overtake on PREMA’s Sebastián Montoya to claim third. A return to the podium for the first time since Monaco for the Ferrari junior. Bilinski, meanwhile, managed to finish seventh, taking his points-scoring streak to six races in a row.
Despite their excellent starting positions, neither driver would make it past Turn 1 unscathed. Beganovic, who moved before the lights went out, would cop a five-second penalty for his infraction. Bilinski, on the other hand, found himself tipped around by a hard-charging Gabriele Minì in Turn 1, dropping down the order.
In the end, neither driver would finish the race, wrapping up a difficult Sunday for the team after encouraging signs early in the weekend.
Winner: Nikola Tsolov
It may not have been more victories in Spa for Tsolov, but he still came away with a strong haul of points to extend his gap in the championship standings.
Despite qualifying fourth on the road, Tsolov would have to fight to move forward and maximise his haul in the weekend. A great start from seventh on the grid for the sprint saw him ascend two positions.
However, it was his last-lap dive on Montoya’s PREMA for fourth that caught the attention, highlighting his ability to carve out an overtake in the pressure moments.
While all those were little moments that could make the difference, his driving in the Feature Race was just as noteworthy.
A daring move on race winner Câmara would see him bang tyres with his rival, with the Bulgarian taking to the gravel in avoidance, and dropping further positions to Dunne and Dürksen. With his super soft tyres well past their prime, Tsolov managed his way through to the pit stops, despite dropping to the fringes of the top 10 by Lap 6.
After the red flag interruption, he would be able to make his way up to fifth on track, before capitalising on Dunne and teammate León’s track limit penalties to take home third, and yet another podium appearance to add to his tally.
Loser: Alex Dunne, Gabriele Minì
As much as Tsolov maximised his opportunities, he was helped by mixed showings for the Alpine juniors running for the title alongside him. Qualifying would bring about a major twist in the tale, with Minì only starting down in 17th for the weekend’s races, unable to deliver the decisive lap in the moment.
Dunne, meanwhile, would qualify an excellent third on the road, putting himself in prime position to challenge for the race win.
The sprint would go along without incident for either driver, with the Irishman coming home to claim sixth and three points along the way, while Minì retired midway through the race after reporting a fire in his MP Motorsport machine.
However, his opening lap incident in the sprint left him chasing the pace all the way through, even bringing a five-second penalty in the incident that eliminated teammate Ollie Goethe along the way.
The red flag would bring a reprieve, with Minì benefitting from pitting earlier and serving his penalty, as he climbed up to fifth in the end. Yet, even he would consider this one of his most difficult race weekends in the season.
As for Dunne, he had put in a solid race to run second behind Câmara and make up ground in the championship. However, a five-second penalty for track limits would see him lose his podium finish, dropping down to fourth behind championship leader Tsolov.
Winner: Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak
The 2026 F2 season has seen several rookies shine, but it has been a slower start for ART’s Inthraphuvasak, in comparison. The Thai driver had spoken of finding it difficult to get into a rhythm, with a tough run of form early in the season.
However, Spa was the big day for him, coming after three rounds of positive results on familiar European circuits. Inthraphuvasak would have the edge on teammate Kush Maini all weekend, with an excellent lap at the end of qualifying, fetching him second.
Despite sliding down to 12th in the sprint, the ART man came up strong in the Feature Race. An excellent start got him into the lead, albeit for a few laps, as Câmara came flying by.
While he lost out to the medium-tyred runners and had a near miss after being released into the path of Dunne in the pits, Inthraphuvasak would remain third in the running, ahead of Tsolov’s Campos.
Keeping clear of track limits, he was elevated to second by the flag, scoring his first podium of the season, and the first for a Thai driver in the championship since Alex Albon in 2018.
The result would also elevate Inthraphuvasak to 10th in the standings, as he now sits only 17 shy of teammate Maini.
Loser: Kush Maini
Spa marked a difficult weekend on the other side of the ART garage, as Maini endured a scoreless weekend for the first time since the season opener in Melbourne.
While he sat fifth after the first runs in qualifying, a minor mistake on his final lap dropped him to 12th in the classification, as several drivers managed to improve and jump ahead of the Indian driver.
Thereafter, Maini would find himself chasing the pace. A slow getaway in the sprint dropped him to the rear, and despite initial progress, a five-second time penalty for track limits ultimately halted his climb up the order.
The initial part of his Feature Race went strongly, though, as Maini climbed up to what was sixth on the road at one point, despite a scary moment of oversteer at Eau Rouge. However, much like the other medium-shod runners, the red flag interruption for van Hoepen’s crash wrecked his race strategy.
Pitting later onto the supersoft tyres, Maini would drop right to the rear of the field, as the tyres lost their ultimate grip after only a handful of laps. Another penalty for track limits would see him drop down to 16th, and last of the classified finishers, as he remains sixth in the standings despite his tough weekend.
Winner: Martinius Stenshorne
It’s no secret that Rodin’s Martinius Stenshorne has been through a difficult run since F2 returned to Europe. However, the Norwegian driver managed to set his difficult run of form straight with a remarkable showing around Spa this weekend.
Getting an important lap at the end in qualifying brought him ninth, and put him in prime position for the Saturday sprint. Starting second, Stenshorne took the lead from Montoya’s PREMA.
However, a safety car early on eroded his nearly two-second gap, and he would later fall behind the charging Invicta of Dürksen. Yet, Stenshorne would bring home second, returning to the podium for the first time since Canada.
Running lower down the order in the Feature Race, Stenshorne would come home 11th in the order, before being promoted to 10th after León’s disqualification, for his first double score since the Monaco weekend.
Loser: Trident
Trident endured a disastrous weekend in Spa. Both drivers found themselves unable to hold the Trident car all the way through the race weekend.
Despite Bennett qualifying an excellent fifth on the road, an issue hit teammate Laurens van Hoepen, who would stop on track with a technical issue, leaving him stranded down in 18th for the pair of races.
The Dutchman would climb up eight places to finish 10th in the sprint race, but it would be despair on the other side of the garage, as Bennett experienced a heavy spin on the exit of Blanchimont corner. He would come to a stop, seeing his chances of points vanish.
In the Feature Race, both drivers showcased excellent pace early on, running in the top 10. However, van Hoepen would spin heavily into the barriers at Malmedy corner, splattering debris onto the car and even causing a fire as he came to a stop. His incident triggered a red flag, with damage to the surrounding barriers too.
The incident would also cost Bennett a chance at points, as he found himself a victim of the medium-tired runners. He would come home only 15th, ending a costly weekend for Trident in Spa.
Winner: Hitech
For much of the 2026 F2 season, the Hitech pair of Colton Herta and Ritomo Miyata have endured a tough time. A lack of qualifying pace coupled with difficulty in managing their tyres over a race distance have cost both drivers all season long.
Yet, despite qualifying only 18th and 22nd, both drivers would benefit immensely from the red flag in the Feature Race. Moving onto the medium tyres, Herta ran a strong eighth, while Miyata had to fight off the supersoft tyre runners to climb up to ninth.
Despite a five-second penalty for track limits, Herta maintained his position, while his Japanese teammate scored his first points since the Monaco weekend. Their result would only improve after León’s disqualification, with Herta matching his best Feature Race result of the season in seventh.
Loser: Noel León
Right from the off, Campos racer Noel León would encounter a range of issues plaguing his weekend.
A spin in qualifying would bring out a red flag, and subsequently a back-of-the-grid start for the Mexican, who was found at fault for being the sole cause of the red flag. While he climbed up early in the sprint, León would retire from the race for the first time all season. However, it was his Feature Race that raised more questions.
Despite a back-of-the-grid start, the Campos man ran in the top 10 before benefitting from pitting later in the race under the safety car to sit third in the order. He would later cop a penalty for track limits, dropping to sixth on the road.
However, disaster would strike, as León was later disqualified from the race, for a breach by a non-operational person on his end of the garage. The result meant he lost his points from the race, leaving a race weekend empty handed for the first time in 2026.
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