The winners and losers from F2’s inaugural outing at the Madring
\Formula 2 experienced an intense rollercoaster around the Madring circuit this weekend, with new faces on the podium and a whole host of surprises befalling the championship contenders. DIVEBOMB looks back at the winners and losers from F2’s Spanish Grand Prix weekend at Madrid.
Winner: Ritomo Miyata
When Ritomo Miyata joined F2 after a triumphant Super Formula campaign in 2024, the championship brought an all-new stage to him. A driver predominantly racing on Japanese circuits, he had no prior experience racing on traditional European circuits compared to the rest of the grid.
It has been a long journey for Miyata, spanning three seasons and plenty of learning and getting up to speed. The highs of a front-row start in Spa and a podium finish for ART remained his best moments in 2025, but the Japanese driver knew he had a strong season in him, around the corner.
Switching to Hitech for a third F2 campaign, Miyata believed in his two years of racing in F2 to carry on the team’s form from 2025 into the current season.
Qualifying has been Hitech’s area of concern all year, with only five top-10 starts between both drivers all season. Miyata utilised his confidence around the Madring to qualify ninth, earning a front-row start for the sprint on Saturday.
An excellent start from second on the grid got him up into the lead, and Miyata controlled the race through two safety car periods, eventually pulling away from Emerson Fittipaldi Jr in second to secure an emotional maiden victory in F2.
It marked Japan’s first race win in F2 since Ayumu Iwasa at Monaco in 2023.
“Finally, we won the race. We have really struggled in the season,” the Japanese driver expressed, delighted with Hitech’s best showing in 2026.
The safety car once again came to Miyata’s aid during the Feature Race, as he was running third at the time on his soft tyres.
Pitting for a set of hard tyres, Miyata looked untroubled all the way until the chequered flag, as he left home with a second podium of the weekend, grabbing his best haul from a race weekend in his F2 career. The result now brings him up into 12th in the standings, only two points off Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen in ninth, in a fierce mid-table scrap.
Loser: Colton Herta
Miyata, though, was the only Hitech car operating on track during the pair of races. On the other side of the garage, Colton Herta endured a painstaking weekend, one he will likely want to move on from as soon as possible.
The American driver had shown encouraging pace early in qualifying, but a late spin at Turn 20 ended his session altogether. With the incident occurring after the session timer had ticked down to zero, Herta would maintain his position of 12th in the classifications.
Yet, he did not get an opportunity to start either race.
The American driver pulled out of the Saturday sprint, citing an illness. Hitech had also worked on the car during a restricted period, breaching Article 21.6a of the sporting regulations, resulting in a pit lane start.
Herta was reportedly facing concussion-related symptoms from his incident on Friday, which led to further assessment ahead of the Feature Race on Sunday. Yet, he did not participate in this race either, marking a disastrous weekend for the American driver.
Winner: Dino Beganovic
Dino Beganovic and DAMS have been chasing victory for as long as anyone else in 2026.
Despite starting the season on pole in Melbourne, the big results the Swede aimed for came few and far between. A victory was still a distant aim after a difficult mid-season, but his latest weekend at the Madring proved why Beganovic has what it takes to excel in F2.
At a track where the lap times kept dropping rapidly, Beganovic set the best time of 1:44.578 on his third flying lap, before lowering the benchmark with another excellent lap of 1:44.331, getting him pole from Alex Dunne by two tenths of a second.
After finishing 10th in the Saturday sprint, it was in the Feature Race on Sunday when the DAMS man earned his best race of the season.
A stern defence into Turn 1 saw him hold off Dunne before Beganovic showcased excellent pace to open up a gap at the front of the field.
While an early safety car eventually eroded this gap, DAMS opted for Beganovic to carry on deeper into the race, opting to utilise the full potential of the soft tyre and create an advantage for later in the race.
A second safety car did not affect Beganovic’s pit stop, though, as he still emerged in the race lead.
A controlled drive in what became a timed race saw the DAMS man emerge victorious for the first time in 2026 and score his second win in F2. He became the 10th different winner in the category this year.
Loser: Rafa Câmara
Invicta’s Rafa Câmara has been closing the gap rapidly to championship leader Nikola Tsolov over the last three race weekends. A gap that stood at 47 points after the Bulgarian’s double win at Silverstone had shrunk to just 11 points after Monza.
The Brazilian undoubtedly looked to continue eating into this gap, and despite looking all at sea early in qualifying, put in a crucial lap to secure third on the grid for the race, arguably an effort that saved his weekend and avoided a blot on his pristine qualifying form in 2026.
While he finished sixth and took advantage of Tsolov’s non-score in the sprint, it was the Feature Race that left Câmara with plenty to ponder.
Having fallen further down the order after pitting, the Brazilian found himself mired in a battle with PREMA’s Mari Boya and the chasing Tsolov. He made contact with the Campos man in a tight overtake into Turns 8 and 9.
Another bold move on Ollie Goethe’s MP Motorsport into Turn 2 the following lap ended in tears for the German driver, with Câmara, now in 10th, hit with a 10-second time penalty, in danger of losing ground in the championship.
The Invicta man saved his race, though, passing Boya for ninth, before using the clean air ahead to open up a gap to the rest behind. This effort, coupled with Tsolov dropping down the order, meant he took home the final point in 10th, a result he wouldn’t have expected after starting third on the grid.
Winners: Alex Dunne, Gabriele Minì
MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì endured a torrid time in Monza, but a reassuring showing in Madrid has kept him in the hunt for the F2 championship.
Despite qualifying down in 14th, Minì exuded plenty of confidence in race trim. Elevated one spot with Herta’s non-start for both races, he utilised the superior grip on the soft tyres to climb four spots, finishing ninth on Saturday behind fellow soft-tyred Boya.
Minì executed a similar strategy in the Feature Race, though. Gaining three positions with others pitting, the MP Motorsport man nailed key overtakes in Turn 13 on teammate Goethe and Martinius Stenshorne to climb up to seventh.
Pitting slightly earlier than those ahead, the Italian driver held on to seventh, fending off a hard-charging Stenshorne to score six points, and cut the gap at the front to 24 points.
Dunne, though, will be happier than the trio ahead after F2’s weekend in Madrid. The Irishman qualified second for the Feature Race. He eventually finished seventh in the sprint behind Câmara, before converting his front-row start in the sprint to a fourth runners-up finish of the season. He capitalised on the safety car period to make his pit stop, maintaining the position.
The championship standings, though, look much closer heading into the final three rounds of the season; Dunne sits 38 points off championship leader Tsolov, sparking thoughts of a potential four-way battle awaiting the end of the season once again.
Loser: Campos Racing
Despite topping practice on Friday, Campos’ performance on home soil unravelled as the weekend went on. Despite qualifying fifth and eighth, the constructors’ championship leaders took home only five points over the course of the weekend.
Tsolov endured his first scoreless weekend of the year since Canada. A self-induced spin after he struck the barrier at Turn 20 saw him stranded and out of the race.
The Feature Race, though, proved arguably gruelling; Tsolov maintained his position early on, but lost position to the hard-charging Boya after his pit stop. Further losses to the MP Motorsport duo of Goethe and Minì saw him down towards the end of the top 10.
An unsuccessful overtake on Boya and Goethe meant he was forced to relinquish positions to both, before Câmara bravely made his way past, with contact between the two championship protagonists.
A piece of Tsolov’s front wing flew off due to the incident, which then came to cost the Bulgarian dearly late in the race. In the final two laps, the damage, coupled with the higher tyre wear on the soft tyres, saw him lose several positions. Tsolov eventually finished 18th, and last of the classified finishers.
Teammate León fared slightly better over the weekend; qualifying eighth meant he started in the top three for the sprint on Saturday. He lost one position to Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen on the softer tyres, eventually scoring Campos’ only points of the weekend in fourth.
He ran outside the points after the second safety car interruption benefitted several drivers ahead, before a five-second penalty for track limits dropped him to 16th at the flag, with Campos recording their worst weekend of the season.
Tsolov still holds on to his championship lead by seven points from Câmara, while Campos’ lead in the constructors’ standings has now been cut from 47 points to 36 points after Madrid.
Winner: Emerson Fittipaldi Jr
AIX Racing and Emerson Fittipaldi Jr have experienced a slower start to F2 in 2026. The Brazilian driver was coming off a massive step in his career, having driven in Eurocup-3 a year prior.
Only two points finishes dotted Fittipaldi Jr’s season up until Madrid, but on a new track, the AIX man capitalised on the characteristics of a new track for the entire grid. A strong lap at the end netted AIX Racing’s first top-10 start of the season, and reverse grid pole for the sprint.
Although he lost a position at the start to Miyata’s Hitech, the Brazilian held his own for the rest of the race. Fending off a hungry van Hoepen on soft tyres late on, Fittipaldi Jr held firm to ensure he secured AIX Racing’s first podium of the season, and his best finish in F2.
By doing so, he ensured every team stood on the podium in the current F2 season. His weekend was bettered by the Feature Race showing, benefitting from the safety car period to make his pit stop and gain track position.
The AIX driver hadn’t been in such a position all season, and as such, was giving it everything in a bid to hold on. Despite losing a position to Invicta’s Joshua Dürksen late on, Fittipaldi Jr ensured he crossed the line fifth, rounding out his and AIX Racing’s best weekend of the season to date.
Loser: Kush Maini
The Madring proved a difficult challenge for several drivers, but few faced worse than ART’s Kush Maini this weekend.
His challenges began right from qualifying. Being one of the first drivers to set a lap around the circuit, Maini endured a massive spin going into Turn 17, smashing his ART into the barriers and coming to a stop on the racing line. He triggered the first red flag of three during the session.
Starting down in 20th for the sprint, Maini’s race came undone on the opening lap. A late lunge on VAR’s Nico Varrone into Turn 8 saw him clatter into the Argentine driver, sending him into the barriers.
The incident forced the Indian driver to retire from the race, and in a double blow, he suffered a five-place grid drop for the Feature Race.
Starting 21st and last on the road for Sunday’s 32-lap Feature Race, Maini made commendable progress on the opening lap, climbing up to 18th. But his race came to an end three laps in, spun around by AIX Racing’s Cian Shields at Turn 18.
The result meant Maini failed to score for the second weekend in succession, and with Beganovic and Dürksen scoring heavily, he dropped down to eighth in the standings after the latest round was completed.
Winner: Laurens van Hoepen
Trident and van Hoepen have enjoyed a superb season so far, and there was yet more to come as the team went into the Madring this weekend.
A strong qualifying on Friday meant van Hoepen started fourth for the sprint race, and Trident opted for a different tyre strategy to those around the Dutchman. As a result, van Hoepen started on the soft tyres, as opposed to the hards for those around him.
The red-ringed soft tyre gave him better grip all through the race, holding on well through two safety car periods, much to the surprise of several teams and drivers. Van Hoepen made a move at Turn 5 on León for third. Despite running wide, the Mexican driver relinquished his position.
A late effort to snatch second from Fittipaldi Jr did not quite come off, but the Dutchman looked pleased to have scored yet another podium in 2026.
Pitting off the safety car period on Lap 7 in the Feature Race did not come off as Trident or van Hoepen anticipated, though. A race-long scrap with León left him further down the order, eventually resulting in a 12th position finish at the flag.
Nevertheless, van Hoepen’s result was enough to lift him up into ninth in the standings, with only two points separating him from 12th-placed Miyata.
Loser: John Bennett
Much like Maini ahead, the other Trident of John Bennett endured a torrid weekend, unable to showcase his potential in the car and match teammate van Hoepen.
Bennett looked to be going quick on his final flying lap in qualifying, setting the fastest first sector at the time, before an incident on the run down to La Monumental corner put him heavily into the barriers. The Briton had dropped down to 16th at the time, and started from 15th for the pair of races.
His sprint on Saturday came undone on the opening lap, after an incident with Montoya. Bennett went over the kerbs at Turn 2 to rejoin the track, before the team’s best attempts to fix the car saw him rejoin a lap down on the rest. But the subsequent damage meant he pulled into the pits to retire on Lap 5.
The Feature Race on Sunday proved more fruitful, with Bennett in the train of cars to have pitted at the end of Lap 6.
He nearly gained more ground on those ahead, nearly pulling off a move at the mighty La Monumental banking on León as the Campos man emerged ahead from the pits.
Yet, he went off track at Turn 5 as he tried to make a move on the Mexican driver, forced to concede places to León as well as teammate van Hoepen.
Bennett’s race came to an end at the same section of the circuit as his qualifying, albeit on the right hand side this time. He pulled over with an issue on his Trident, triggering the crucial second safety car period of the race.
Winner: Mari Boya
It was a patriotic weekend for PREMA Racing and Boya, the Spaniard celebrating a second home event in his rookie F2 season.
While he did not set the track alight in qualifying, he utilised an alternate tyre strategy to put himself in contention for big results across the pair of races.
Starting on the soft tyres for the sprint, Boya ascended from 12th on the grid into the points, with an opportunistic move on Beganovic at Turn 9 eventually getting him up into ninth on the grid. Benefitting from Tsolov’s incident later, the PREMA racer then hung on to the rear of Dunne in seventh, coming home to take the final point in the sprint.
But it was in the Feature Race when he set the field alight in the early laps. Pitting on Lap 7, Boya emerged as one of the front-running drivers on the hard tyres, even making his way past the likes of Tsolov and Câmara running in the top five.
Despite running on much older tyres, Boya was able to climb up into ninth, but the second safety car period undid any outside chance at a podium finish.
The older tyres on his PREMA started to give way, as he dropped out of the points, eventually coming home 11th on the road, having given the home crowd plenty to cheer about early in the race.
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