Noel León got his first taste of competing in Formula 2 at the opening round of the season in Melbourne. The 2026 F2 Australian GP weekend began on a high note for León with both Free Practice and Qualifying going his way.
León believes “there is room to be fighting for pole”
Free Practice saw the rookie finish the interrupted session in second place, only four tenths behind Gabriele Minì in P1. León impressed once again in Qualifying as he almost made the top three. However, Alex Dunne was only 0.037 seconds faster, placing León in fourth. Still, the rookie performed well in both sessions.
After the session, the Campos Racing driver spoke about the Qualifying session, stating:
“I feel very good to be honest. It was a very difficult session. We went off sequence for a little bit of a different strategy. And at some point, I didn’t know if we were going to get a good lap because there were a lot of red flags.
“In the morning, there weren’t so many red flags. So we were thinking that in Qualifying it was going to be better, but it wasn’t. So, it was a bit difficult. And then with the fuel we were a bit on the edge.
“In the end we were very, very safe with the two red flags. But at some point, I needed to abort a push lap I was using to have a bit more margin. At the end we were very fast.
“I feel that we saved Qualifying, but there is room to be fighting for pole. So yeah, I’m very happy with that.”
A good starting point in F2
León’s debut weekend at the F2 Australian GP leaves the driver hungry for more. He could earn his first F2 points during the opening round, but arriving as a rookie did not come without pressure.
“The pressure was very, very high to be honest. I knew that I had the pace because before that, I was fighting for P1. I was quite nervous, the pressure went up and I knew that I was not able to afford a mistake because of time. Then I got a decent lap that put me in P4, so I’m happy with that.
“In this championship the main thing is to be consistently in the top five, top ten, to fight for points. And on the first day we did it.“
As the Mexican driver took P4 in Qualifying, he is set to start on the second row for the Feature and lines up seventh for the Sprint. His great performance leaves him with a strong chance for points in both races.
“The plan is I have a very good team, a very good car, and I know we are able to do very good things. So, of course, no pressure to rush everything at once, but we’ll try to go forward.
“In the end I got a decent lap, which put us in P4, and that’s the most important thing. So we have a really good starting position for both races.” León added.
With a good start, the rookie’s Melbourne weekend can continue positively. The action continues on Saturday with the Sprint Race, while the Feature Race is set for Sunday.
