Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara made a strong start to his weekend at the 2026 F2 Miami GP, with the rookie qualifying P2 to secure himself a front-row start for Sunday’s Feature Race. Despite finishing P13 in Free Practice, the reigning Formula 3 Champion managed to find his rhythm during the session but narrowly missed out on pole position by less than a tenth of a second.
As the 2026 F2 grid tackled the Miami International Autodrome for the first time, Câmara appeared competitive from the get-go as he was the first driver to set an early benchmark. Speaking in the post-Qualifying press conference attended by Pit Debrief, the Brazilian reflected on his session, saying: “Yeah, it felt very good out there.”
“It was quite hard and for the tyres it was not easy to keep them alive even just one push but I think then we managed to do a good job after FP especially. And yeah, we went the right foot for quali. Already on the first push was feeling good, and then you knew that would be all about the second push.”
Tyre management remains a big unknown
With 2026 marking F2’s first visit to Miami, Câmara and the rest of the grid headed into the weekend with many unanswered questions. And with no prior data to rely on, teams and drivers have shaped their approach as each session unfolds.
When asked about how the Supersoft compounds performed over a lap during the session, the 20 year-old explained that he had to find a balance between pushing and managing the tyres through the first high-speed sector of the circuit.
“I mean in quali, you still try to do as much as you can without sliding too much, but sector one was quite strong. Also, I think compared to others we were the only team with the high downforce. So yeah, I think this is one of the reasons why I was so quick as well in sector one.”
While Miami is considered to be a medium to high degradation track, Câmara believes everyone is heading into a big unknown and will need to see how things unfold during tomorrow’s Sprint Race.
“It’s difficult to say as it’s a new track, no one did a long run here or race so I think we’re gonna find out tomorrow but I think we’ll need to look [after] your tyres, otherwise it’ll be a big problem.”
Excited to race in Miami and Montreal
Following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds, F2 announced Miami and Montreal as replacements. As the championship makes its North American debut, drivers have expressed excitement about racing at both tracks for the first time. Racing alongside F1 at two new venues also presents as an opportunity to gain valuable experience for the future.
When asked about how drivers view an opportunity like this, he said: “I mean it’s always nice to be in new tracks. I think it becomes a bit like I said as well, the preparation is a big thing here. And yeah, in the way that how it does prepare us for Formula One, it’s difficult to say because you don’t know what will happen for the next year.”
“But, I think it’s nice to be out there in new tracks here in Miami, super cool as well the place, so really having fun here and also the track is an amazing track, so also looking forward for Canada that will be same feeling of a street circuit. You get a bit of the feeling of street circuit, also a bit of low grip, so yeah will be nice and looking forward for that.”
While future prospects are exciting, Câmara remains focused on the Sprint Race. With rain showers expected on Sunday, he echoed similar sentiments to Kush Maini and Martinius Stenshorne, saying the team will prepare but will simply take the conditions as they come.
“Pretty much what they said, of course we look into that. But yeah, just focusing tomorrow’s race and we see what happens on Sunday, whatever your situation we prepare for that and we see how it goes.”
Câmara: “I’ll just keep working in the same way as I’ve been doing”
For the reigning Formula 3 Champion, joining a team that has produced the last two F2 champions brings added pressure. However, when asked about what he’s worked on since then, the 20 year-old emphasised the importance of maximising every opportunity he gets and sticking to what he has already been doing.
He said: “I didn’t remember myself saying that Sunday was my strongest, my strength but yeah. I think just Saturday sometimes last year, it wasn’t a bit of things that was not in my control that in the end we couldn’t do the best job. But yeah, I think I’ll not change much of last year.”
“I’ll just keep working in the same way as I’ve been doing and just try to maximise every time I’m on track and make sure that I’m doing the right things, and yeah I think every moment is different, so you just need to prepare well with the team and make sure you’re in the right spot for every condition that we prepare and you know what to do for each session.”
Câmara credits Invicta Racing for providing a competitive car
When asked by Pit Debrief about what he learned from his championship-winning campaign that has helped him start the year strongly, Câmara said: “I mean like always, I think I just try to focus and prepare in the best way possible for each race and I just try to do the best job. There’s not any I think anything that I do differently or that I learn.”
“I think just make sure that everything is on the right spot for the race weekend and obviously with great teams behind me, it helps also to do this job. So yeah, I would say that thanks for Invicta as well to give me a very good car today and make it possible to be out there fighting for the pole position.”
Seamless transition into F2
Working with Invicta Racing has been a smooth transition for Câmara, who described it as “natural”. The Brazilian has evidently adapted well so far, having secured a podium-finish in Melbourne and now a P2 qualifying result in just his second weekend.
Describing the transition from F3, he explained: “It felt quite natural, to be honest. Already from Abu Dhabi the first day you felt like things came quite easily. Obviously, just focusing after more the details but the basics it was there already, and yeah also working with the team has been very nice.”
“It was very well to be with them already in Abu Dhabi and then from there, I think we just kept working together improving ourselves understanding more each other. And yeah, I think we just tried to keep this positive way of working and hopefully just getting stronger through the season.”
