Nikola Tsolov strengthened his position at the top of the 2026 F2 Drivers’ Championship following the Italian GP Sprint Race at Monza, extending his advantage over Gabriele Minì from 20 to 24 points.
Joshua Dürksen produced the biggest score of Saturday’s race by charging through the field to victory for Invicta Racing, while John Bennett and Oliver Goethe completed the podium. Noel León, Tsolov, Martinius Stenshorne, Alexander Dunne and Laurens van Hoepen completed the points-paying positions.
Meanwhile, none of the top three changed position in the standings. However, Rafael Câmara’s retirement means he remains only two points behind Minì, while Tsolov has gained further breathing room before Sunday’s Feature Race.
Tsolov extends F2 championship lead at Monza
Tsolov arrived at Monza with 167 points and a 20-point advantage over Minì following the Hungarian GP Feature Race. The Campos Racing driver faced a more difficult Sprint starting position after receiving a three-place grid penalty following Qualifying, but he steadily worked his way forwards.
During the closing stages, Tsolov passed Stenshorne to move into fifth, collecting four points. His championship total consequently rises from 167 to 171.
Minì, by contrast, finished 10th and failed to score, leaving the MP Motorsport driver on 147 points. As a result, Tsolov extends his advantage from 20 to 24 points heading into the Feature Race.
However, Câmara remains close to Minì despite suffering a difficult Sprint. The Brazilian stopped after an engine issue and recorded a DNF, leaving him on 145 points and only two behind Minì.
Câmara retirement leaves top three unchanged
Câmara’s failure to score prevented him from moving ahead of Minì before Sunday, but the Invicta Racing driver remains firmly involved in the championship battle.
He sits third on 145 points, two behind Minì and 26 behind Tsolov. More importantly, Câmara starts Sunday’s Feature Race from pole following his strong Qualifying performance, giving him a significant opportunity to reduce that deficit if he can convert his starting position.
Tsolov therefore enters Sunday with the largest championship lead he has held since Budapest, while Minì remains under pressure from Câmara for second.
The margins also mean the title picture could change considerably during the Feature Race, where substantially more points will become available than in Saturday’s Sprint.
Dunne and León add to their totals
Dunne remains fourth in the Drivers’ Championship after finishing seventh in the Sprint. The Rodin Motorsport driver added two points, increasing his total from 108 to 110.
However, León made a slightly larger gain behind him. The Campos Racing driver finished fourth and collected five points, moving from 94 to 99. Consequently, Dunne’s advantage over León falls from 14 points after Budapest to 11 before Sunday’s Feature Race.
Neither Kush Maini nor Dino Beganovic scored. Maini remains sixth on 88 points, while Beganovic stays seventh on 79.
Therefore, the fight immediately behind the top five remains relatively stable, although León continues to close on Dunne following his Feature Race victory in Hungary.
Van Hoepen and Stenshorne strengthen top-10 positions
Van Hoepen collected the final point of the Sprint with eighth place, taking the TRIDENT driver from 65 to 66 points. He remains eighth in the championship.
Stenshorne enjoyed a stronger afternoon, finishing sixth and adding three points. The Rodin Motorsport driver moves from 59 to 62, giving him a three-point advantage over Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who failed to score and remains on 59.
The result gives Stenshorne a little more separation in ninth, although the gap to Van Hoepen remains only four points.
However, one driver immediately behind them made considerably greater progress during Saturday’s race.
Dürksen victory cuts gap to F2 top 10
Dürksen arrived at Monza 11th in the championship with 42 points, but his Sprint victory added 11 to that total, including the additional point available from the race. He therefore moves to 53 points.
The Invicta Racing driver remains 11th because Inthraphuvasak sits on 59, although the gap between them has fallen from 17 points following Budapest to only six.
Dürksen’s recovery drive also continues his strong record at Monza. After making an excellent start, he moved into podium contention before passing Bennett for the lead and controlling the final restart to secure victory.
With Dürksen also starting near the front in Sunday’s Feature Race, the Paraguayan has another opportunity to make significant championship progress.
Goethe moves ahead of Miyata
Goethe also made a meaningful gain by completing the Sprint podium. The MP Motorsport driver collected six points for third place, increasing his total from 29 to 35.
That result moves Goethe from 14th to 13th in the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of Ritomo Miyata, who remains on 34 after finishing ninth. Miyata consequently drops one position despite narrowly missing the points.
Rafael Villagómez remains 12th with 38 points and therefore sits only three ahead of Goethe. This creates another tight battle in the midfield heading into Sunday.
Sebastián Montoya stays 15th on 28 points after finishing outside the top eight.
Bennett makes major jump after second place
Bennett made one of the largest gains further down the standings after converting reverse-grid pole into second place.
The TRIDENT driver led the opening phase and defended through the first Safety Car period before Dürksen eventually passed him. Nevertheless, Bennett secured eight points, increasing his total from 18 to 26.
That lifts him from 18th after Budapest to 16th, where he draws level with Colton Herta on 26 points but sits ahead in the standings.
Roman Bilinski drops to 18th on 24 points after retiring, while Nico Varrone remains 19th on 14. Mari Boya, Emerson Fittipaldi and Cian Shields complete the championship order on 12, 10 and 10 points respectively.
2026 F2 Drivers’ Championship standings after the Italian GP Sprint Race
- Nikola Tsolov — 171 points
- Gabriele Minì — 147 points
- Rafael Câmara — 145 points
- Alexander Dunne — 110 points
- Noel León — 99 points
- Kush Maini — 88 points
- Dino Beganovic — 79 points
- Laurens van Hoepen — 66 points
- Martinius Stenshorne — 62 points
- Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak — 59 points
- Joshua Dürksen — 53 points
- Rafael Villagómez — 38 points
- Oliver Goethe — 35 points
- Ritomo Miyata — 34 points
- Sebastián Montoya — 28 points
- John Bennett — 26 points
- Colton Herta — 26 points
- Roman Bilinski — 24 points
- Nico Varrone — 14 points
- Mari Boya — 12 points
- Emerson Fittipaldi — 10 points
- Cian Shields — 10 points
Tsolov therefore holds a 24-point advantage over Minì, while Câmara remains only two points behind the Italian in third. Further down, Dürksen has closed to within six points of the top 10, while Goethe and Bennett made the largest positional gains among Saturday’s scorers.
Campos retains F2 Teams’ Championship lead
Campos Racing entered Monza with a 74-point advantage over Invicta Racing and added nine points through León and Tsolov in the Sprint. That takes the championship leader from 261 to 270 points.
Invicta gained 11 through Dürksen’s victory but lost the opportunity to score with Câmara following his retirement. The defending team champion therefore moves from 187 to 198 points.
Consequently, Campos’ advantage falls slightly from 74 to 72 points before the Feature Race.
However, with Câmara and Dürksen starting from the front row on Sunday, Invicta has a major opportunity to reduce that margin further.
MP Motorsport strengthens third place
MP Motorsport added six points through Goethe’s podium, while Minì failed to score. The team increases its championship total from 176 to 182 points.
Rodin Motorsport also enjoyed a productive Sprint, with Stenshorne adding three points and Dunne another two. Its five-point haul moves the team from 167 to 172.
Therefore, MP retains third and extends its advantage over Rodin slightly from nine to 10 points.
ART Grand Prix remains fifth on 147 after Maini and Inthraphuvasak both finished outside the points.
TRIDENT closes on DAMS after Bennett podium
TRIDENT made the largest gain among the lower half of the Teams’ Championship through Bennett and Van Hoepen.
Bennett’s second place contributed eight points, while Van Hoepen added one for eighth. Their combined nine-point haul moves TRIDENT from 83 to 92 points.
The team remains seventh but has reduced its deficit to sixth-placed DAMS Lucas Oil from 20 points after Hungary to only 11. DAMS remains on 103 after Beganovic and Bilinski both failed to score.
Hitech stays eighth on 60 points, followed by Van Amersfoort Racing on 52, PREMA Racing on 40 and AIX Racing on 20.
2026 F2 Teams’ Championship standings after the Italian GP Sprint Race
- Campos Racing — 270 points
- Invicta Racing — 198 points
- MP Motorsport — 182 points
- Rodin Motorsport — 172 points
- ART Grand Prix — 147 points
- DAMS Lucas Oil — 103 points
- TRIDENT — 92 points
- Hitech — 60 points
- Van Amersfoort Racing — 52 points
- PREMA Racing — 40 points
- AIX Racing — 20 points
Campos takes a 72-point advantage over Invicta into Sunday, while only 26 points separate Invicta, MP Motorsport and Rodin from second through fourth. TRIDENT has also moved within 11 points of DAMS as the battle for sixth tightens before the Feature Race.
