Qualifying for the 2026 F2 British GP got underway at Silverstone on Friday afternoon, following Free Practice earlier in the day. Alex Dunne had topped the timesheets in the opening session for Rodin Motorsport, with Rafael Câmara and Dino Beganovic completing the top three. Heading into Qualifying, Gabriele Minì leads the Drivers’ Championship ahead of Nikola Tsolov and Câmara.
2026 F2 British GP Qualifying gets underway
Half the field headed out first as the green light was given for 2026 F2 British GP Qualifying. Drivers took their warm-up laps before the first flying laps of the session came through.
Beganovic set the opening benchmark as the first competitive times came in. DAMS’ Roman Bilinski quickly improved with a 1:41.123 to move to the top, before Kush Maini went faster still to take provisional pole.
Dunne, who had set the pace in Free Practice, lost his first attempt after exceeding track limits.
Track limits quickly became a major concern at the high-speed circuit. Several drivers struggled to balance pushing for lap time while staying within the white lines.
Dunne tops the timesheets as the first runs conclude
Despite the deletion, Dunne recovered with a clean effort to head the timesheets once the first set of flying laps concluded. Maini slotted into second, with Câmara third and Villagomez fourth. Varrone, Bilinski, Inthraphuvasak, Tsolov, Beganovic, and Bennett completed the provisional top ten.
Tsolov, the championship runner-up, ran in eighth as drivers returned to the pit lane for fresh tyres. Van Hoepen also came back in after a tough run of qualifying form across the last three rounds. He searched for improvement on his second set of tyres. His teammate Bennett held tenth at that stage. That position would put Bennett on Sprint Race pole under the reverse grid format.
All cars returned to the pit lane at the halfway point of the session, with the decisive runs yet to come.
Tsolov and Bilinski make their move on the second runs during Qualifying
With 12 minutes remaining, drivers headed back out on a fresh set of soft tyres for the decisive runs of 2026 F2 British GP Qualifying. The second set of flying laps produced a dramatic reshuffling at the top.
Bilinski hit the front first, before Tsolov went fastest of all with a 1:39.972, purple in all three sectors. The Bulgarian climbed to provisional pole and gave himself a strong platform heading into Sunday’s Feature Race. Minì, Tsolov, and Boya all returned to the pit lane, with the championship leader Minì sitting inside the top 10 but facing the prospect of starting the Sprint Race from reverse grid pole.
Câmara claims Pole during Qualifying for the 2026 F2 British GP
As the final push laps came through, Rafael Câmara produced the lap of the session. Starting from as low as 16th place at one stage of the second run, the Invicta Racing driver crossed the line with a 1:39.690 to go more than two tenths clear of the rest of the field and claim pole position for the 2026 F2 British GP.
Dunne responded on his final attempt but fell two tenths short, settling for second with a 1:39.891. Maini completed the top three just 0.001 seconds behind Dunne, with Bilinski and Tsolov rounding out the top five. Just 0.282 seconds covered the top five at the flag.
Minì ended the session in tenth, which in the Sprint Race reversed grid format hands the championship leader pole position for Saturday’s opening race.
