Noel León claimed victory during the Feature Race at the 2026 F2 Budapest Round at the Hungarian GP.
Round 9 of the 2026 F2 season began with Dino Beganovic topping Free Practice with a 1:30.720. Kush Maini then secured his second pole position of the season in Qualifying, beating Rafael Câmara by 0.117s. Noel León qualified in P3, ahead of Joshua Dürksen and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak completed the top five.
Saturday’s Sprint Race saw Gabriele Minì pass reverse-grid polesitter Sebastián Montoya for the lead on Lap 17 before claiming victory ahead of Beganovic and Laurens Van Hoepen. Nikola Tsolov and Montoya later collided at Turn 1, forcing both drivers to retire from the race.
Following the collision, the stewards handed Tsolov a five-place grid penalty, dropping the championship leader from P7 to P12 for the Feature Race. Maini therefore lined up on pole alongside Câmara, with León, Dürksen and Inthraphuvasak completing the top five.
Maini leads as first-lap collisions shake up the order
As the Formation Lap started, Roman Bilinski was unable to start his car, which caused him to start the F2 Feature Race at the Hungarian GP from the pit lane. With the lights going green, Maini had a good pace from pole position, as Câmara in second needed to defend from León behind him, losing P2 to the Campos Racing driver. Van Hoepen had the advantage against Dürksen as he went up into P4 as Inthraphuvasak also tried his luck to overtake the Invicta driver, though he was unable to do so. Meanwhile, there were multiple small collisions further back during the first lap as Stenshorne and Goethe fell back down the order, while championship leader Tsolov also got caught in a collision. Though all drivers were able to continue the F2 Feature Race for now.
Race control noted the collisions as Tsolov went off track after contact with Stenshorne and came back on track, causing a collision with Stenshorne and Bennett. Meanwhile the Rodin team was able to fix Stenshorne’s car giving him the chance to continue the F2 Feature Race at the 2026 Hungarian GP.
Maini builds his lead as strategies begin to unfold
As Tsolov went on the hunt for some points for his championship fight, he made his way up to P9 after overtaking both Varrone and Montoya. Meanwhile Maini was able to create a gap between him and León, as he was around 4 seconds ahead of the Campos Racing driver. With the tyres starting to degrade, 5 drivers already went into the pits early on in the race to take their mandatory pit stop.
At the front, Maini continued to further his gap while León needed to defend from Câmara, as the Campos driver led a short DRS train from P2 down to P6, with Inthraphuvasak building the end. Though Beganovic in P7 started to close the gap to Inthraphuvasak, as he was the highest-up driver that was on the alternative strategy. As Beganovic closed in, Inthraphuvasak took the opportunity to overtake Dürksen for P5, while Minì pitted for a tyre change.
León gains the upper hand as pit stops reshape the race
As soon as Minì came back out on track, more pit stops started to be made, starting with Dürksen. Villagomez needed to stop his car, staying stranded in the run-off zone of turn 12, causing a short Virtual Safety Car, being the first to retire from the F2 Feature Race at the 2026 Hungarian GP. Meanwhile, León gained the biggest advantage under the Virtual Safety Car, as he pitted from P2 when race control deployed it, reducing the time lost during his stop. Herta, who sat in P15 after his pit stop, received a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while overtaking Dunne earlier in the race.
León’s pit stop seemed to still give him the advantage as Câmara couldn’t place himself on top of the Campos driver after his pit stop. On top of that, the Invicta driver was being hunted from Van Hoepen behind him. Meanwhile, race leader Maini went into the pits and came out after León, making the Campos driver the leader of the cars that completed their mandatory pit stop already. And León held the advantage for now, it could change in the course of the race if his tyres give out earlier than expected, though León held a comfortable lead of around 5 seconds in the front.
Maini faces investigation as the battle for position intensifies
As championship leader Tsolov went into the pits, Maini tried to overtake Fittipaldi and almost ran into the back of the AIX, though Fittipaldi went into the pits shortly after putting Maini back on the podium. Meanwhile Inthraphuvasak overtook Minì who locked up being unable to hold his position, with Beganovic overtaking the Italian shortly after.
With 10 laps remaining, race control placed Maini under investigation for a pit lane infringement and will announce its decision after the 2026 Hungarian GP Feature Race. At the front of the pack Dunne was leading, though the Irish driver still needed to head into the pits for his mandatory pit stop, hoping for a late Safety Car, while León slowly but steadily closed the gap to Dunne. Câmara closed in on Maini as he fought for position, while Tsolov overtook Minì for P8 after the Italian ran wide and left enough space for the Red Bull Junior to make the move. Further back Dürksen was defending strongly from Inthraphuvasak for P5, with the Thai not being able to overtake to gain the position.
León claims maiden Feature Race win as Maini holds off Câmara
As Dunne went into the pits, the Irish driver had a big lock-up as he slowed down in the pit entry, causing smoke around the pit lane, with the hope that he was slow enough once he crossed the line. Meanwhile at the front, Maini closed in on León, getting within a second of the Campos Racing driver, while Inthraphuvasak was still trying to overtake Dürksen in front of him. With 3 laps to go, Inthraphuvasak was able to overtake Dürksen, who started to defend a bit too late to keep his position. Dürksen immediately came under pressure again, as Beganovic overtook the Invicta driver just one lap after Inthraphuvasak made his move, before Tsolov also went through.
At the front the podium positions were still unclear as Câmara closed in on Maini, while Maini tried to stay close enough to León to not lose the DRS and keep the P2. Though with the final lap of the F2 Feature Race at the 2026 Hungarian GP beginning, Maini lost the DRS advantage as Câmara got closer with every push around the Hungaroring.
Noel León wins the F2 Feature Race at the 2026 Hungarian GP, claiming his first Feature Race win in Formula 2. Maini came home in second, as Câmara in third wasn’t able to overtake the ART GP driver in the last lap.
