Campos Racing’s Noel León heads into the third round of the 2026 F2 season in Montreal with confidence, as the Mexican driver continues to build momentum and deliver strong results. In Miami, despite finishing 9th in the Sprint Race, the 21 year-old walked away with points on both days, securing the fastest lap point on Saturday and finishing 4th in Sunday’s Feature Race. He left the weekend with a valuable points haul that sees him sit 7th in the Drivers’ Standings on 21 points, level with DAMS Lucas Oil’s Dino Beganovic.
Having secured a podium at the season opener in Melbourne, León has started his rookie campaign off strongly. Speaking in Thursday’s virutal media session, the Mexican driver spoke to Pit Debrief and other media outlets, reflecting on his strong start so far and outlining his goals for the weekend.
“For sure it’s been a strong start of the season. I’m pretty happy with how it’s going. There’s still a lot of things that we need to work on, and the main focus for Canada is to minimise the small mistakes that we’ve been doing in the first two rounds, to have a clean weekend, and be on the points on the two races.”
“Because I think, in Melbourne we have a really good chance in the feature race and we didn’t take it, and obviously Miami as well. We were close, so yeah, the goal for Montreal is to be on the points in both races.”
Should Miami and Montreal stay on the F2 calendar?
Although the championship’s visits to Miami and Montreal came as a late change to the calendar following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds, many drivers have expressed excitement about racing at both circuits.
When asked by Pit Debrief whether drivers would like to see both venues remain on the calendar in the future, León said the championship would benefit from returning to both circuits, while also noting how special it is to feel the support of Latin American fans.
“Yeah, I mean for sure Miami was a great weekend. I think so, as a driver I really like. The races were very fun to be honest, with a long straights and with a lot of DRS zones. Canada will be a bit different because, I mean we have a lot of DRS zones but very small places to overtake. But I think so, both tracks has very fun racing, and I think it will be good for Formula 2.”
“So yeah, for sure I would like to have them in the next year, especially because it’s close to home. So it’s always nice to have the family here and all the support from Latin America.”
León on the challenges of Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
The 4.361km circuit poses the challenges of tight chicanes and heavy-braking zones, challenging drivers to balance several factors. With the possibility of looming wet weather expected to hit on Sunday, he explained how tyre warm-up and management will play a crucial role in both qualifying and the races this weekend.
“Yes, Canada will be very difficult, especially with the weather, to be honest. It seems to be; I mean it’s very cold during the weekend, it’s going to be even more. So I think it’s going to be very important to do a proper warm-up with the tyres, to have grain in the races and in qualifying.”
“And yeah, we have super soft and soft compounds, so we need to take care of them, especially for the feature race. It’s going to be 40 laps, so that’s going to be the main goal to be honest.”
As F2 takes to the track for the first time in Montreal tomorrow, León noted that taking things “step by step” this weekend will be important in building momentum.
“And yeah, the track seems to be pretty dirty today, so tomorrow I think so free practice is going to be important to do all the laps, taking it step by step. And the progression of the track is going to be a lot, so even more than what we are used to have. So it’s going to be important to go step by step.”
“Very confident” in his abilities to tackle wet and dry conditions
Despite qualifying 13th in Miami, there were positives to take away from the progress he was able to make through the field in both races. With weather conditions expected to change unexpectedly around the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, he remains confident in his ability to handle both dry and wet conditions.
“From Miami, yeah, it was fun, to be honest. But to be honest, I don’t mind if we race on dry or wet. Our package is pretty strong in both conditions. And also, I feel very confident doing both. So yeah, the only thing is, I would prefer if it’s wet, to be wet the whole race, you know.”
“I don’t want to have the crossover mid-race and strategy playing a lot of role on the race. But obviously, you can never have all in one. So we’ll see if it’s a clean race.”
Although Montreal presents an exciting new opportunity for the entire grid, when asked whether it offers an advantage for rookies by levelling the playing field, he explained: “I mean, there’s a lot of rookies as well.”, the Mexican driver said.
“Obviously, this year, the level is pretty high. I think the gaps in qualifying shows that, that it may have been so tight, and also in the races, or the guys with experience.”
“And when we go to new tracks, it makes things more difficult because they know a little bit better how to prepare the tyres, what is the main thing to work on.”
León added: “But the level is pretty high to be honest. At the end of the day, all of us, we prepare very well before the races. So we try to arrive on having that experience as a disadvantage to us.”
León: Latin American support “always an extra motivation”
Having raced in Miami several weeks ago, where there is a large Latin American population, León continues to proudly fly the Mexican flag. Fuelled by the support from the fans who attend the races, he described the feeling as an extra source of motivation.
“To be honest, these two races for me, it’s been very good. Miami, Canada, there is a lot of Mexican people living here. There is a lot of Latin American people as well, so the support feels great to be honest. Yeah, I already see a lot of Mexicans during my days in Montreal.”
“It’s always an extra motivation for during the weekend, having a lot of people, having my family there as well. So yeah, obviously, it’s a cool event. Normally, on the races in Europe, I don’t have it.”
Preparing for a fast-approaching European leg
After Montreal, the championship will enter a busy period as its European leg gets underway, beginning on the streets of Monaco. When asked about the areas he would like to improve on heading into the next phase of the season, León said his focus is on minimising mistakes.
“I mean, as I said before, I think so it’s been a positive start of the season. There are a lot of things to work on, minimising mistakes and to be, you know, like on the points, go to races. That’s the main goal.”
“So as I said in Melbourne, we have a really good opportunity. And all of these things kind of happen in Europe because at the end of the day, from Australia, you have a break, you can reset, you can prepare again for the next race and it’s not a problem.”
“But as soon as we start the European season, it’s one by one, you know, like every week is one. You don’t have time to recover, to reset.”
He added: “And I think so, as a main goal is trying to every week to build progressively the weekend, and every time going and pushing a bit harder without doing mistakes and that will give you the points in both races, which is the most important thing.”
León: “I’m happy that today, I can show that I’m still there”
The Mexican driver endured a challenging season with PREMA Racing in F3 last year, finishing 17th in the Drivers’ Standings with 36 points. As he embarks on a new chapter with Campos Racing this year, Pit Debrief asked León in which areas he thought he has grown most since his rookie F3 season, to which he explained: “Yeah, obviously, it was a very difficult season last year. I think so I don’t need to say so much of that. It was a lot of things happening at the same time and just wrong time, wrong moment for me, for my career.”
“I was coming from a pretty strong rookie season in Formula 3. And I’m happy that today, I can show that I’m still there, you know. I didn’t forget how to drive, I didn’t forget how to do races. I think so, I need to change a little bit the approach of the weekend. Last year, I was very used to try to put everything in the perfect lap, you know, which now I have the car, I have the team to be able to build predictably that weekend.”
“Yeah, just minimising this mistake, you know. So I think so just change a little bit, the mind for this season. Be a bit more calm. It’s obviously difficult, but we’ll try.”
Adapting “quite well” to F2
From the outset, León has appeared to find his footing quickly despite being a rookie. The 21 year-old topped the opening day of pre-season testing in Barcelona and has shown promising pace throughout the first two rounds of the season so far.
Speaking about how he’s settled in, León said: “Yeah, I mean, we adapted quite well, to be honest. We did a very good preparation before the test in Abu Dhabi. So with the team, we did a lot of sims. My engineers told me what is the most important thing for Formula 2, what is the main things and the bigger thing of change between Formula 3 and Formula 2.”
“Yeah, we watched a lot of data. Yeah, we did a lot of laps to get used to that. It doesn’t change much.”
Highlight the brakes as the main difference between the F2 and F3 cars, León explained that thorough simulator preparation with the team ultimately helped him get up to speed quickly. However, he believes that, at the end of the day, it always comes down to a driver to extract as much pace as possible.
“It’s mainly that you have very powerful brakes in the Formula 2. So you arrive much higher speed and you’re able to brake even a little bit later on the Formula 3 because of the carbon brakes. So obviously, the first laps were difficult to get used to this.”
“But as soon as we did some laps and the sim also trained the efficiency, we got used to it and it wasn’t a problem. The rest is you need to drive as fast as you can always.”
The demands of Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
Tackling the 4.361km circuit for the first time, the 2026 F2 grid will face another new challenge this weekend. When asked how difficult the track compares to others on the calendar, he said: “Yeah, I think this is a very specific track. Obviously, it’s kind of a straight circuit, a lot of chicanes and bigger curbs. So, you need to be very precise.”
“Obviously, with the amount of time we have before qualifying, it’s going to be very difficult to do a very good lap and obviously building the confidence to get closer to the wall every time. So, yes, it’s a very demanding track mentally especially because you need to be very precise. Obviously, a lot of chicanes, a lot of walls. So, you need to always get closer to get faster.”
He added: “But as I said, it’s going to be pretty dirty, the track in the beginning. So, it’s important to build that session and every lap getting a bit better because track evolution is going to be massive. And I think we’ve never experienced that before in Formula 2. It’s going to be also an important factor this weekend.”
“It doesn’t change that much compared to a normal race weekend” — León on preparations for F2 Montreal round
With this being F2’s first visit to Montreal, León explained that preparation has centred around studying a lot of Formula 1 onboard footage. Still, he noted that simulator work remains key ahead of the weekend, adding that not much changes in terms of preparation despite it being a new venue.
He said: “Yeah, I mean, obviously, before an event, we always do a lot of simulator. We try a lot of stuff with a team. But especially these two races that we are new on the track, we watch more TV footage or onboards from Formula 1 previous years.”
“I used to try to how the track evolution goes, how they start to train through the weekend, the lines and in the circuit. One of the main things they struggle, especially in the early practice, because at the end of the day, if you watch that race and qualifying is where everything is perfect, you know, driving-wise. The track is also very, very good. We don’t get to that point before qualifying.”
“For us, it’s almost time of FP2, so the track is still pretty green. And that’s the main thing to work on, to be honest, looking where we need to be on the track, on the lines, and adapting very well. But it doesn’t change that much compared to a normal race weekend.”
Feeling “confident” heading into Montreal after “strong” weekend in Miami
Despite a tough start to the weekend in Miami, where he and teammate Nikola Tsolov missed Free Practice, he credited the team for still delivering a strong car despite the circumstances. Although conditions played into their favour during Sunday’s Feature Race, León hopes this weekend will be a “cleaner” one.
“Yeah, obviously, the conditions helped us a lot, to be honest, during the weekend. But also the talk about the preparation we did and the work of the team has been doing to have a pretty strong car and going through to Miami, especially because we missed, me and Nikola, the free practice and had no data, and having a pretty strong car for the qualifying.”
“So, that’s also a big credit to the team for the amazing work they’ve been doing to give us faster cars. And obviously, we don’t want to happen that again. We would like to have a clean weekend.”
Having shown promising pace, the Mexican driver heads into Montreal confident about his chances of scoring strong results again.
He said: “Yeah, I feel confident, to be honest, especially after Miami. As I said, it was a pretty strong weekend, including that we didn’t do free practice and the pace was there. So, I know that the work that the team is doing is good and we arrived to each track with a lot of information and with a very good pace.”
“And obviously, we need to stay calm, as I said. The track is going to be pretty green and the evolution is massive. So, we don’t need to be the fastest on the first two laps. So, that’s the main goal.”
“We hope to continue like this” — León on Campos’ momentum
When asked by Pit Debrief what it is about the team that has allowed its drivers to achieve strong success in recent years, he explained: “Yeah, the team has helped us a lot, to be honest, on the preparation. We prepare very well for the races. We receive a lot of information. So, we arrived to the track and we arrived to free practice knowing what to do, what to expect. If something happens, how to react, to be honest.”
Knowing that he has a fast package underneath him, he explained that it fuels his confidence on track and to be consistently near the front as well. Moving forwards, the 21 year-old hopes they can maintain that momentum.
“So, yeah, we prepared ourselves pretty good and that’s why we’ve been consistently there, you know, with a fast car as well. Driving, you feel confidence because the car is good and you don’t need to risk everything to be on the top five. So, that’s a very good thing and yeah, we hope to continue like this.”
