DAMS Lucas Oil’s Dino Beganovic claimed a dominant victory to become the first-ever F2 Feature Race winner in Madrid, crossing the line seven seconds clear of Alex Dunne in second. The Swede converted his second pole position of the season into his maiden Feature Race victory, walking away with a strong haul of points and a long-awaited win.
The eleventh round marked a standout weekend for the Ferrari-backed junior and DAMS Lucas Oil, as he took his fifth podium of the season and his first victory of 2026. Speaking in the post-Feature press conference, attended by Pit Debrief, Beganovic reflected on his day, saying: “Yeah, it feels obviously very good. It’s been a while. I feel like we’ve been waiting for this one for a long time. But yeah, it feels very good to get it here after a very good Friday.”
Having looked strong and competitive from the outset, Beganovic credited the team’s efforts both in the build-up to and throughout the weekend. With a victory now under his belt, the Swede hopes to carry that momentum into the next round in Baku.
“Honestly, the team did a good job all week actually. Coming from the simulator, testing some stuff and going in a direction that they haven’t been used to before. But obviously it worked this weekend, and hopefully we can carry it on for Baku. But yeah, from FP, I feel very good in the car, confident, and that’s all you need at this track.”
Performance differences between the soft and hard tyres
“Yeah, honestly, the soft tyre was a very good tyre today and also yesterday. It was just very fast and I think the grip of it was very solid.”, the Ferrari-backed junior said when asked about the differences in performance between the Soft and Hard tyres.
Beganovic explained that the team remained flexible with its strategy approach after struggling for pace at the start. Once the early pit stops provided a clearer picture, he increased his pace, while the safety car ultimately provided a strategical advantage.
“Then I think starting the race, we were quite slow and we tried to be very flexible in what we could do. And once the first couple of guys pitted, we knew what to do and we picked up our pace.”
“And we were able to match and be quicker than that. So this is a good sign that obviously everything went to plan and obviously the safety car was just a bonus for us.”
Miami, Montreal and Madrid have been the “most enjoyable”
Pit Debrief asked the top three how much they had enjoyed the challenge of navigating three new street circuits this season, from Miami and Montreal to Madrid. Echoing similar sentiments to Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne, Beganovic explained that the demanding nature of the circuits had pushed drivers to explore the limits, making them some of the most enjoyable additions to the calendar.
“Yeah, I can only agree with Alex. It’s by far the three rounds that were the most enjoyable.”, Beganovic said. “For me as a driver, for F2 to come there to the new tracks, for all the teams that don’t have any references, it was really cool to go there. And, you know, you really trust your instincts a lot when you come to a track like that.”
“Obviously, you look at videos from F1 in Canada and Miami, but we didn’t have any reference. So I really like the challenge. It’s amazing. Like Alex said, it’s all about confidence and how close you want to get to that limit. And it’s always a joy to do that.”
Although the Madring has offered limited overtaking opportunities throughout the weekend, the 22 year-old believes there is little that needs changing about the circuit.
“I agree with Ritomo. It’s a great track. I think the only thing I can think of is brushing the walls a bit, a bit like they do in Monaco, you know, that the walls are a bit more rounded instead of having them like kind of edgy. But that’s really the only thing. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the track.”
A return to form for DAMS and Beganovic
The European leg of the season has brought its share of ups and downs for Beganovic. While the Swede started the year strongly, a lack of consistency has ultimately kept him out of the title fight.
However, Beganovic highlighted the importance of returning to form in Madrid after a difficult run through the middle of the season. A strong Qualifying performance and victory in the Feature Race therefore marked an important turnaround for both the Swede and DAMS Lucas Oil.
“No, I think it’s very important to have this weekend of qualifying. And the race today was very good, I think there are different reasons why we didn’t have the pace in the middle of the year coming back to Europe. It was a bit tough at a certain stage and difficult to get in top 10 in qualifying.”
He added: “And that’s really not where we want to be compared to in the beginning of the year when we had very good pace, Australia, Miami and Canada. So, yeah, we came back to a bit more simple stuff after the summer break and just before the summer break. And I think they have worked quite well.”
“And again, I think coming to a track like this, a street track, a new track for everyone, I really like the challenge as it zeroes out for everybody.”
Heading into the twelfth round of the season, Beganovic sits sixth in the Drivers’ Standings on 106 points. As the season enters its final stretch, the Ferrari-backed junior will look to build on his strong weekend in Madrid and carry that momentum forward.
