Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara stormed to his fourth F2 pole position during Qualifying at the 2026 Belgian GP, full report below.
Carrying his momentum into the weekend, Nikola Tsolov quickly found his footing once again at Spa-Francorchamps and led the way in Free Practice, with Martinius Stenshorne and Nicolás Varrone completing the top three. Having claimed the championship lead in Silverstone after securing both race victories, the Red Bull Junior headed into the eighth Qualifying session of the season confident that pole position was within reach.
Qualifying gets underway at Spa-Francorchamps
After a dry Free Practice, rain started to fall ahead of the eighth Qualifying session of the season. Despite this, the majority of the field went out on a set of slick tyres. With twenty cars out on-track, Mari Boya and Noel León opted to stay in the pit lane.
The field headed out on exploratory laps, gradually building up to their first representative laps of the session around the 7.004km circuit. The first driver on a push-lap was Alex Dunne. However, his attempt would soon be interrupted by a red flag. León, who headed up Eau Rouge, spun around but managed to get going again. As a result, the stewards noted the Mexican driver for the incident and will be investigated after the session.
First representative laps of the session after early red flag
Recovering from his spin, León set the benchmark with a 1:58.657. However, it was not long before Dunne replaced him at the top with a 1:57.124, while Tsolov trailed two tenths behind. Next across the line, Rafael Câmara’s first effort was enough for him to slot into P3 with a 1:57.571.
As it stood, Dunne, Tsolov, Câmara, Oliver Goethe and Laurens van Hoepen completed the top five. After their first attempts, several drivers returned to the pits. Both Invicta Racing drivers opted for another run on the same set of tyres. Although Dürksen was not able to improve on his next attempt, Câmara’s next effort was enough to shuffle Tsolov down to P3, as the reigning Formula 3 Champion slotted into P2 with a 1:57.347.
After a promising weekend in Silverstone, Kush Maini found his way into the top five, slotting into P5 with a 1:57.741. With eleven minutes left on the clock, the track died down ahead of the final runs of the session.
Final shootout for pole position at Spa-Francorchamps
Drivers headed back out for their final efforts of the session. The stewards next noted Ritomo Miyata for an unsafe release. However, the first driver across the line to start their final push-lap of the session was León. The Mexican driver lit up the timings; however, yellow flags were soon deployed after van Hoepen stopped on the start-finish straight, prompting race control to bring out the red flag.
Unfortunately for León, his deleted lap time saw him drop down to P17. As the session resumed with three minutes left on the clock, the entire field eagerly emerged from the pit lane.
Across the line, all eyes were on Tsolov to see if the Bulgarian driver could claim his first pole position. The Red Bull Junior headed to the top with a 1:56.699. However, behind him, Câmara found his way back to the top with a 1:56.306.
Having impressed with a strong first sector, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak’s next effort was enough to catapult into P2 with a 1:56.346, while Dunne rounded up the top three. Out in front, Câmara’s run of strong Qualifying performances continued as the Brazilian stormed to a fourth pole position.
