Noel León made history at the Spielberg Round in the 2026 Austrian GP by becoming the first Mexican driver to claim pole position in Formula 2.
The Campos Racing driver delivered a 1:15.544 at the Red Bull Ring to secure his maiden F2 pole, beating Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne by 0.129s. Teammate Nikola Tsolov finished third to complete a commanding one-three result for Campos.
León produced his decisive lap while the rest of the field remained in the pit lane. The strategy left him without a tow but gave him a clear circuit, allowing him to set the fastest time in all three sectors.
He then faced an anxious wait in the garage as his rivals completed their final attempts, but nobody could dislodge him from the top.
“It feels great! It was a very good day for the team. P1 and P3. Since Free Practice, we knew that we had a chance for pole; the car was a rocket ship. So, yeah, thanks to the team for the amazing job.”
Campos’ risky strategy pays off
León faced a different challenge from his rivals after Campos sent him onto an empty circuit midway through the Qualifying session of the F2 Spielberg Round at the 2026 Austrian GP.
The approach removed the risk of traffic but left him without a tow down Spielberg’s long straights. It also meant León had to complete his final run earlier than the drivers around him before waiting in the garage as conditions continued to evolve.
“Yeah, it was a lot of pressure because I was alone,” he said. “The strategy that my engineer chose was quite good but always risky because we didn’t have a single car on track, so no tow. But we knew that we had the pace, so we trusted in ourselves and we did it right.”
León had already placed himself among the leading contenders during the opening runs before Rafael Câmara moved ahead. His second set delivered a significant improvement, with the Campos driver going more than half a second faster than Câmara’s previous benchmark.
However, the warm conditions and the supersoft tyres left him uncertain over whether his rivals could find more performance on their second push laps.
“The Supersoft was quite good, even for two laps. When I saw that on the first push they didn’t improve my lap time, I was worried about the second push because on the first set I improved a bit. So, yeah, it’s always not nice to be watching the others’ lap times.”
León targets his first Feature Race podium
León has already shown his ability in F2’s shorter races, claiming Sprint Race victories in Montreal and Monaco during his rookie campaign. However, he has yet to finish on the podium in a Feature Race.
Previous Qualifying setbacks often forced him to start Sunday’s races from further down the order. León admitted that mistakes, traffic and disrupted practice sessions had prevented him from building complete weekends.
The F2 Spielberg Qualifying session at the 2026 Austrian GP offered León a different outcome. Pole position gives him a clear opportunity to convert his pace into his strongest Feature Race result yet, while Tsolov will start close behind from third.
“Yes, I mean, we’ve been quite close to doing good results in qualifying. Just things didn’t go our way, to be honest. Mistakes, traffic, or just mistakes in FP as well.”
“So the building of the weekend wasn’t great. So that’s why I was all the time in the top three for the Saturdays. Now the team did an amazing job.”
“I put a lot together and I’m able to start on the front row on Sunday. So, yeah, thanks to the team for that. I think it’s going to mean a lot for me.”
“Feature Race, I mean, we are P1 and P3, so we need to try to get it as good as we can.”
Tsolov teaches León to deliver when it counts
Tsolov has provided León with a strong reference throughout his first F2 season. The Bulgarian arrived in the championship after fighting for the 2025 Formula 3 title and has regularly challenged near the front since stepping up with Campos.
León, meanwhile, entered F2 after a difficult second F3 campaign. The contrast between their previous seasons has allowed him to study how Tsolov approaches qualifying and high-pressure situations.
When Pit Debrief asked how working alongside such a quick teammate had accelerated his learning, León highlighted the importance of producing a clean lap rather than chasing perfection on every attempt.
“Yeah. It’s always good to have a good teammate, to be honest. We work very well with the team.”
“We always push each other to the maximum. He’s been fighting for a title in F3 and now in F2. So, he’s been used to fighting for poles, to fighting for Feature Races, whereas in my case last year was very bad when I was fighting for P20 every race.”
“So, obviously, it’s a very different approach to the weekend. Obviously, as I said before, I wanted to do pole laps every time, and sometimes I was making a mistake or something. So, this is something that I’ve been learning from him: trying to put it together when it counts and, yeah, probably at about 99 per cent, and that’s enough.”
That lesson proved decisive in Spielberg. León did not have the benefit of a tow, but he delivered three fastest sectors and placed the car beyond his rivals’ reach when his opportunity arrived.
Championship ambitions outweigh historic milestone
León also acknowledged the historic significance attached to his first pole position, although he insisted that the achievement had not reduced his expectations.
The 21-year-old places greater pressure on himself than he feels from supporters and remains focused on winning races rather than settling for individual milestones.
“I mean, I don’t know what to say, to be honest. I want to win, and I think the pressure that I put on myself is even higher than what everybody can put on me.”
“So, it doesn’t mean—I mean, it’s good to be the first Mexican on pole, the first Mexican also winning a race, but to be honest, we want to fight for the championship, and we want to win races.”
León now has the starting position required to pursue that next objective. After proving his speed over one lap, he must convert pole into the Feature Race result that has so far eluded him.
