Câmara takes pole once again in 2026, after tense finish to Monza F2 qualifying

Credit: Formula 2 via X

Invicta Racing's Rafa Câmara took pole in an exciting showdown during Monza's Formula 2 qualifying on Friday, prevailing by a slender margin of 57 milliseconds to teammate Joshua Dürksen, after a brilliant lap took him to pole. Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne recovered from an early setback to finish a strong third in the session.

Further back, an excellent effort from Campos saw their drivers finish the session fourth and sixth, with Noel León and Nikola Tsolov split by the other Rodin of Martinius Stenshorne in fifth.

It would then be ART's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak lifting himself up to seventh, with Hitech's Ritomo Miyata in eighth for, while MP Motorsport's Ollie Goethe and Trident's John Bennett rounded out the top 10 in Monza's sole qualifying session. Bennett will start on reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint race.

An exciting session, and here's how it all played out on F2's sole Italian weekend of the season.

AS IT UNFOLDED - F2 Qualifying in Monza

In a differing start to F2's usually fast-paced qualifying sessions, the grid of 22 drivers stayed put for the first three minutes of the session. The slipstream around Monza has often proven powerful - and decisive in the fight for pole, hence no driver wanted to be the first to head out onto the track.

With five minutes down on the clock, Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne was the first to head out onto the track, ahead of the new green-liveried AIX Racing machine of Cian Shields, and teammate Martinius Stenshorne.

However, the drivers returned to the pits after just one reconaissance lap, playing the waiting game. Eventually, around the 10-minute mark, Dunne was the first to start his flying lap. He would lock up at the Ascari chicane, losing his flying lap.

Invicta would immediately look quick from the off, with Joshua Dürksen leading the way at the halfway mark, from Noel León's Campos and teammate Rafael Câmara. Championship leader Nikola Tsolov rounded out the top four ahead of Trident's Laurens van Hoepen.

Yet, as the drivers embarked on their second laps on the same set of super soft tyres, the order remained the same, with both Invicta and Campos cars holding strong on the top four. MP Motorsport's Ollie Goethe and home favourite Gabriele Minì then lifted themselves up into fifth and sixth.

Dunne returned to the track for his second attempt at setting a lap time, having gone deep into the Turn 1/2 chicane on his previous attempt. A solid effort saw him climb up to fourth on the road, four tenths off the lead time set by Câmara, with the Irish driver getting no slipstream to help him close the gap further.

With six minutes to go until the session ended, all the drivers made their way out onto the track together, attempting to capitalise on the slipstream from the car ahead and lift themselves up the order.

While several cars entered the pit lane, a few other drivers headed out onto their flying laps, including Tsolov, PREMA Racing's Mari Boya, and the Rodin duo of Stenshorne and Dunne. However, all the drivers eventually slowed down heading into the Ascari chicane, with under two minutes to go.

As Boya tip-toed down to the Parabolica corner, the entire grid eventually closed up. DAMS' Roman Bilinski was the first to surpass the entire grid, setting off on his final flying lap, as the rest of the grid followed suit.

The drivers setting off eventually caused chaos at the final corner, with Sebastián Montoya's PREMA going through the run-off area in a bid to begin his flying lap, while others such as Dunne slowed right down through the sweeping corner, in a bid to get the best track position for their final flying laps.

ART's Kush Maini, who had been the star of qualifying in Hungary, would only come home 21st, after a slide at the exit of Ascari chicane on his final flying lap.

Yet, several drivers improved their lap times, including Dunne to climb up to third, but after a few close moments, it was an Invicta 1-2 to round out the session, with Câmara returning to pole once again in 2026.

Here's how it all panned out after an intense finish to F2 qualifying in Monza

Classification - F2 Qualifying in Monza

1. Rafael Câmara (Invicta Racing)

2. Joshua Dürksen (Invicta Racing)

3. Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport)

4. Noel León (Campos Racing)

5. Martinius Stenshorne (Rodin Motorsport)

6. Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing)

7. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (ART Grand Prix)

8. Ritomo Miyata (Hitech TGR)

9. Ollie Goethe (MP Motorsport)

10. John Bennett (Trident)

11. Gabriele Minì (MP Motorsport)

12. Roman Bilinski (DAMS)

13. Mari Boya (PREMA Racing)

14. Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing)

15. Rafael Villagómez (Van Amersfoort Racing)

16. Dino Beganovic (DAMS)

17. Nicolás Varrone (Van Amersfoort Racing) 

18. Laurens van Hoepen (Trident)

19. Emerson Fittipaldi Jr (AIX Racing)

20. Colton Herta (Hitech TGR)

21. Kush Maini (ART Grand Prix)

22. Cian Shields (AIX Racing)