Less than an hour after Freddie Slater topped F3 Free Practice, the 2026 Budapest F2 round began with a 45-minute session at the Hungaroring.
Unlike the F3 field, the 22 F2 drivers quickly left the pit lane and began gathering data. Invicta Racing’s Joshua Dürksen led the field onto the circuit and established the first benchmark.
However, the order changed repeatedly as the drivers increased their pace. Mari Boya then interrupted the session when he crashed at Turn 1, while Dino Beganović eventually emerged as the weekend’s early pace-setter.
Dürksen establishes the first 2026 Budapest F2 Free Practice benchmark at the Hungarian GP
Dürksen led the opening group onto the circuit and recorded a 1:43.242 with approximately 38 minutes remaining.
AIX Racing’s Emerson Fittipaldi Jr followed with a 1:43.781. Meanwhile, Hitech TGR teammates Ritomo Miyata and Colton Herta completed their first exploratory laps further down the timesheets.
Dürksen then improved significantly on his next attempt and set a 1:34.615. Fittipaldi also lowered his time to a 1:34.992, while Dürksen’s teammate Rafael Câmara joined the leading group.
However, Miyata soon displaced Dürksen with a 1:34.019. Herta then moved ahead of his teammate and completed the opening 10 minutes at the top with a 1:33.077.
Câmara takes control as the pace increases
The action intensified once most of the grid joined the circuit and began producing representative lap times.
Câmara moved to the top with a 1:31.484. Miyata followed in second with a 1:32.052, while Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne placed third with a 1:32.327.
PREMA Racing’s Sebastián Montoya then climbed to second as the session approached the 15-minute mark. Herta responded with a 1:31.900 and also moved into P2.
Nevertheless, Câmara retained control and improved to a 1:31.144 on his next lap.
MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì initially moved into second with a 1:31.357. However, Montoya displaced him after setting a 1:31.286.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagómez joined the leading group in fourth with a 1:31.559 as the session approached its halfway point.
Boya crash brings practice to a halt
Boya then lost control of his PREMA Racing car at Turn 1 and struck the barriers.
Yellow flags initially covered the opening sector before race control stopped the session with approximately 23 minutes remaining.
The interruption prevented the drivers from completing their next sequence of laps and gave the teams time to examine the data from their opening runs.
At that stage, Câmara led Montoya and Minì, while Villagómez remained inside the top four.
Minì leads the first improvements after the restart
Race control restarted the session with 18 minutes remaining, leaving the drivers with just over one-third of the session to complete their programmes.
Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov led the field back onto the circuit. However, the drivers initially focused on bringing their tyres back into the correct operating window.
Minì produced the first significant improvement after the restart. The MP Motorsport driver set a 1:30.744 and moved to the top of the timesheets.
Tsolov followed with a 1:31.132 and climbed into second, while Câmara retained third through the 1:31.144 he had completed before the red flag.
Tsolov loses fastest time for track limits
Tsolov increased his pace with just over 10 minutes remaining and completed a 1:30.603.
That lap initially placed him ahead of Beganović, who had moved into contention with a 1:30.720. However, officials deleted Tsolov’s time after he exceeded the track limits at the final corner.
The deletion dropped the championship leader to sixth and returned Beganović to the top.
Nicolás Varrone moved into second with a 1:30.741, ahead of Minì, Câmara and Dunne.
Meanwhile, Miyata climbed to seventh with a 1:31.132. ART Grand Prix’s Kush Maini followed in eighth, while TRIDENT’s John Bennett and Villagómez completed the top 10.
Beganovic remains fastest ahead of Minì and Varrone in F2 Free Practice at the 2026 Hungarian GP
Minì delivered another improvement during the closing minutes and completed a 1:30.735.
The lap moved him ahead of Varrone and into second, but he remained 0.015 seconds behind Beganović’s benchmark.
Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne also progressed and climbed to seventh with a 1:30.981.
However, none of the remaining drivers displaced Beganović before the chequered flag.
The DAMS Lucas Oil driver therefore ended Free Practice at the top of the timesheets, with Minì second and Varrone third. Câmara and Dunne completed the top five as the field turned its attention towards Qualifying.
