DAMS Lucas Oil’s Roman Bilinski endured a weekend to forget at the 2026 F2 Miami GP, as the Polish driver left the weekend with a string of misfortunes. After qualifying at the back of the grid on Friday, Bilinski climbed through the field during Saturday’s Sprint Race, showcasing impressive pace to finish P14 from P21. However, Sunday’s Feature Race ended before it even began for the Polish driver, as a technical issue forced him to jump out of his car before lights out.
While his teammate Dino Beganovic achieved stronger results, Bilinski reflected on the weekend, acknowledging that there is still a performance gap to close. Otherwise, he noted that the team’s pace remains strong and competitive as he looks to bounce back stronger in Montreal.
“I think we have a strong package behind us, as Dino has showed in Qualifying. I need to close the gap, which I believe can happen soon.”
“The race pace is something that’s really strong. The Sprint Race I came from the back to get into the points in Melbourne. We’re going to go through those highs and lows, that’s part of racing. I can just keep bouncing back, improving, and doing our best each time we’re in the car.”
Learning from an experienced Beganovic
The 2026 F2 season marks Bilinski’s rookie campaign in the championship. After finishing 11th in Formula 3 last year with 65 points, the 22 year-old took the next step up after just one year in F3. With an experienced teammate like Beganovic alongside him at the team, Bilinski noted how it has been useful to learn from him and credited his strong driving form at the moment.
He said: “Dino is an experienced team-mate. He’s driven the Formula 1 cars. He’s in his second year in F2. So, it’s really helpful, and you can appreciate how he’s been carrying the feedback and everything. His driving is really good.”
“I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from that. I put that into practice for my own benefit.”
Two new tracks level the playing field
Following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds, Miami and Montreal were announced as replacements, marking the championship’s first visit to North America. With two new tracks back-to-back, Bilinski said: “It’s quite interesting to go to somewhere new. I think it’s good also for the rookies. I think it brings the other drivers a bit closer, and it can make it quite an interesting weekend.”
“These two weekends, everyone’s entering on the same footing in terms of experience. I would say it brings a second and third, and I think it’s even a fourth-year driver a bit closer to us rookies, which definitely helps with it being a new track, but they still have experience of F2 in general.”
While preparation for a race weekend at a new track remains largely the same, Bilinski aims to maximise his opportunities in the car and hopes to keep growing and improving throughout the season.
“The preparation is always the same anyway. We don’t need to change anything with the simulator, working with the team, everything like this. So, in terms of that, it’s all pretty standard.”
“I hope to really enjoy it. I think this is a unique and incredible opportunity for all of us. But, the most important thing for me is the performance. Every time I get in the car, I just want to do my best, keep learning, improving, and we’ll see where we are after a couple of rounds.”
