Gabriele Minì secured a double podium finish at the F2 Canadian GP weekend. After qualifying P10 on Friday and taking the reverse pole for the Sprint Race, he found himself in P2 at the end. The Feature Race had the Italian fight his way through the field with a steady drive from P10 to P3.
Minì focused on the job and finding more pace after F2 Canadian GP
After finishing on the podium both days in Canada and taking his maiden F2 victory in Miami, Minì now leads the Drivers’ Championship. With three rounds completed, the MP Motorsport driver has 57 points and hungry for more.
Speaking with Formula 2 about his experience, Miní reflected: “It feels very good. Of course, it’s always good to be at the top of the Standings, rather than not being there and trying to chase.
“But it’s very early in the championship, so we need to focus on the job, and find some more pace. We got a double podium in Canada, but we were missing some pace, clearly. So we still need to work a bit and try to extend.”
The driver remains focused on improving with MP, and with 11 more rounds to go, anything could happen.
Minì maximised what he had at the F2 Canadian GP
Both races in Montreal featured plenty of chaos and on-track action, given that it was the championship’s first-ever visit to the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. With no prior data to rely on, the drivers had to go all out for their first experience. Despite starting from Sprint pole and having a solid start, Minì found himself with more degradation and was eventually overtaken by Noel León at the second safety car restart. After this, he attempted to stay out of trouble and eventually crossed the line to claim P2.
Speaking about the Canadian GP weekend, the Alpine Junior reflected: “It was a really, really good weekend. I think we maximised and extracted even more than what we had, to be honest. A bit like Miami.
“We managed to start on Sprint pole and the pace was not bad, just the degradation hit us a bit hard. It’s hard to compare, but we could see visually that it was hard to keep up with the others, especially with the two Rodins in the Feature.
“But once again, we still did a very good job. We maximised what we had and we also worked, because it was two different things from one race to another. It means we are working and we just need to find the right direction.
“But in the end, as I said, even the pit stops and the things that we needed to manage, it was very nicely executed.”
First year with MP Motorsport and leading the Championship
After spending an F3 season and a full F2 season with PREMA Racing, the Italian moved to MP Motorsport in 2026. Leaving the Italian team behind and going over to a Dutch team can be a hard adjustment. However, the 21-year-old admits he has been enjoying it.
“I mean, it’s really different to any other teams I’ve been with. It’s a different mindset and a different way of working, but once again I’m finding myself really well in this environment, people are really nice, and you know, we work well, so there is good harmony.”
Not only is Minì first in the Drivers’ Championship, but MP also finds themselves leading the Team’s Standings a mere point ahead of Campos Racing. When asked if he still pays attention to the championship this early on, he said: “To be honest, yes, in a way. You don’t think about the championship, but you think about wanting to score points in every race.
“So if you are, for example, in P4 and you have to risk a lot to get P3, sometimes it’s almost better to stay back, these kinds of things.
“But of course you’re not going to let people pass because of it, so it’s a trade-off, you need to have a good balance of those two things.”
Next up for F2 is Round 4 in Monte Carlo
While both Miami and Montreal were new for the F2 drivers, they now return to familiar ground. With the next round being on the streets of Monte Carlo, Minì returns to what he knows. The Italian has two F3 victories around the principality and finished P2 in last year’s F2 Sprint Race. This time around, he would hope to take the win.
“I’m really excited. I can’t wait to get on track, to be honest. The thing that I will always do is to focus lap by lap, especially on a street circuit.
“You can’t really take any big risks, especially on the first lap, and you have to build, not going too slow, but also at the same time, you can’t afford any crashes at the beginning, early on.
“So, it’s going to be key to build it up and, of course, I’m sure that the team already has some data, has a base where to start from, unlike those last two rounds. So, we’ll be ready.”
