Campos Racing’s Noel León claimed victory in a chaotic Sprint Race at the 2026 F2 Canadian GP, view the full report here.
Following a dramatic Qualifying session, Gabriele Minì lined up on reverse-grid pole alongside Rafael Villagómez in P2 and Noel León in P3. Meanwhile, Feature Race polesitter Laurens Van Hoepen started in P8 after post-qualifying penalties reshuffled the starting grid.
Rafael Câmara and Alex Dunne each received three-place grid penalties for both races following separate impeding incidents in Qualifying. As a result, Câmara dropped from P9 to P12 for the Sprint Race start, while Dunne fell from P8 to P11.
Further back, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Oliver Goethe had their fastest lap times deleted after causing separate red flags in Qualifying, moving them down to P20 and P21, respectively. However, ART Grand Prix soon announced that Inthraphuvasak will take no further part in Round 3 following a medical decision.
Lights out for Montreal’s F2 Sprint Race
As the five lights went out, Minì got off to a strong start, building a significant gap as León jumped to P2. Meanwhile, Dürksen moved up from P6 to P3, soon challenging León for P2 as the pair began swapping positions. By Lap 6, Dürksen used DRS to get ahead of León heading into the final chicane.
The pair continued their battle, with León regaining his spot on the following lap as Sebastián Montoya dropped down to P21 after making slight contact with the wall. The first penalty of the Montreal Sprint Race was issued to Nicolás Varrone, who received a stop-and-go for a starting procedure infringement.
At the front, León began closing in on Minì, closing the gap down to just 1.5s.
Bennett brings out a Safety Car
Drama struck on Lap 11 as Nikola Tsolov hit the rear of Martinius Stenshorne, who then collided with John Bennett. Bennett was sent into a spin and a stop at the hairpin and was forced to retire.
The Safety Car ended on Lap 14, with the field bunching up. Minì restarted the Montreal F2 Sprint Race next to the Wall of Champions. León briefly attempted to challenge the Italian for the lead on the main straight, but didn’t have the pace to get by.
Running behind in P4 and battling Villagómez for P2, Dürksen received a 5-second penalty for causing a collision. Stehnshorne and Tsolov soon joined and overtook Dürksen during his tight battle against Villagómez. Moments later, Dürksen and Dunne collided at the hairpin, spinning Dürksen into a stop and a retirement, while León overtook Minì for the lead.
A Safety Car was deployed on Lap 20 as the marshals recovered Dürksen’s Invicta Car.
León storms away at the restart
At the Safety Car restart, León was quick to restart the race, catching Minì off guard to gain a 1.1s lead. While fighting for P5 and P6, both Dunne and Tsolov received 10-second penalties for causing separate collisions.
More chaos unravelled across the following laps. Stehnshorne went off track and dropped down the order, while Villagómez hit the wall at Turn 4, immediately retiring. Meanwhile, Shields collided with the rear of Varrone’s Van Amersfoort Racing car, bringing out a brief Virtual Safety Car. Additionally, Race Control noted Minì for more than one change of direction.
Through it all, it was Noel León who claimed Sprint Race victory at the 2026 F2 Canadian GP, storming from P3 to P1. Behind, Gabriele Minì crossed the line in P2, followed by Martinius Stenshorne, Laurens Van Hoepen, and Emerson Fittipaldi.
