With the start of the summer break, Formula 2 and Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel debriefed the last rounds of the 2026 F2 Championship expecting an intense battle.
Speaking with the media Michel shared his thoughts on the top five contenders, stressing that the upper three have the most potential to win the 2026 F2 Championship. He admitted his astonishment of Campos Racing’s strategy and hinted the new F2 era that is about to come.
Michel on the drivers who could turn the 2026 F2 Championship into an interesting battle
As it stands, rookie Nikola Tsolov, who started the season with a strong win in Melbourne and three following victories over the course of the past months, is holding tightly to the championship lead. He also managed to achieve two Sprint Race victories. During the nine weekends, he stood on the podium eight times. The Bulgarian driver sits on top of the pyramid with 167 points to his name.
“Nikola Tsolov is always there. I would say that in Spa, his weekend was one of damage limitation, because he could have lost more points in the Championship, but he was up there, and he’s the man to beat in the Championship, definitely. He’s strong, he’s committed, he understands the car quite well, and it’s true on all the tracks.
“It’s a pleasure to see him racing, because he’s a very strong racer, so I’m not really surprised to see him leading the Championship. Now, there are some drivers behind him. Rafael Câmara won from pole position in the Feature which is good because he had been in pole position several times. But, he has won only two races since the beginning of the season. Now, he’s there, and he’s going to fight until the end.”
Italian driver Gabriele Minì has shown to be a great contender as well, as he finished every single weekend with points. He sits 20 points behind Tsolov, with 147 points.
Mr Consistency
Statistically speaking, Minì was the most consistent in the Sprint races with an average of 5.5 points, despite only having won a single Sprint race. Notably, the Italian stood on the podium a total of nine times this season.
“Gabriele Minì is second at the moment and right there as well. He had a strong race in Spa, starting quite far back but finishing very strongly in the points.”
However, another driver isn’t making the 2026 F2 Championship easy for Tsolov and Miní, according to Michel. The third contender, who won the F3 championship in 2025 in dominant fashion, is Rafael Câmara. So far, the Brazilian has won two Feature Races, Barcelona and Spa. Nonetheless, he is really close to Minì, almost breathing down his neck with a gap of two points.
“Minì and Câmara know that Tsolov is the man to beat, and they will have to do the job. The season is still long, and there are still going to be a lot of things happening. But I think this fight between those three drivers is going to be very interesting until the end of the season.”
Tsolov took the championship lead from Minì with his dominant sweep at Silverstone. Later, Team Principal Adrian Campos Jr praised the young talent for making the difference. Despite this, Michel argued that his current performance isn’t as powerful anymore.
In the meantime, his opponents Minì and Câmara performed quite well, remaining in the points. Minì won his first Sprint Race of the season in Budapest, while Câmara missed out on the podium shortly. The Brazilian finished 3rd in the Feature Race, while the Italian finished 9th.
“Nikola remains ahead, but he hasn’t dominated the way he did earlier in the season. Rafael had a strong weekend in Hungary, even if he didn’t win, and once again, Gabriele was in the points even on a tough day.”
What to expect after the F2 summer break
Michel stated that while he truly believes it would become a three-way battle, there might be surprises that still have to develop. The 2025 F2 championship was intense since there were multiple surprising drivers.
This time last year, there were a total of seven drivers who were in contention for the championship title. One of the surprising drivers was Alex Dunne. However, this season, the Irishman was less risky and fierce. While he hasn’t won a Feature Race or a Sprint Race yet, he stood on the podium a total of five times and fell three times short. He stands with 108 points, fourth in the drivers’ standings.
“I think that from now, it’s going to be a three-way battle until the end of the season, because Alexander Dunne was a little bit behind over the weekend, and it was on a weekend his rivals all scored. But, it’s looking like a really open end to this season.”
“The Budapest Feature Race was a very good one, very interesting with the different strategies. The Option tyres at the end of the race were getting a bit better, so it was interesting to see the fights that we had with Nikola, Dino Beganovic and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak battling for points.”
“It will be a very intriguing end to both Championships. In F2, we have many more races to come, but it’s really, really open between the three top drivers.”
Michel astonished by Campos’s bold strategies during the F2 Double-header
Campos Racing executed a bold strategy during the 2026 F2 Spa Round, where Noel León improved impressively. During the race, he discussed with Adrian Campos Jr the idea behind the strategy, as he was too stunned by the Mexican’s sudden improvement. Eventually, the Mexican was disqualified due to a non-operational person using the team’s headset during the red flag period.
In his eyes, this type of daring strategy showed even more what a terrific team Campos Racing is.
“I was speaking to Adrian Campos during the Red Flag in Spa because honestly, I didn’t really understand how Noel León got to where he did from last on the Starting Grid,” he said.
” Adrian explained it to me – they used two Safety Cars, had one set of tyres more than the others because he hadn’t used it yet, and the strategy was great.”
“It was really amazing and even if it didn’t pay off in the end, it was really a good job from Campos. It shows that not only is their car fast, but they’re also quite smart and doing a very strong job across the board and deservedly lead the Championship.”
Praising León’s triumph
During the 2026 Budapest F2 Round, Campos Racing’s León benefited immensely from a VSC period. Thus he could then execute a strategy that led to his maiden F2 Feature Race victory.
“Noel then had a great Feature Race in Budapest. He was a bit lucky with the VSC, but that’s part of racing, and the result is there, so I’m really happy for him as well.”
“He was clearly emotional after the race, but it’s understandable. He’s been impressive in parts of this season and was well deserving of his first Feature Race victory. It would not be a surprise to see him stand on the top step of the podium again before the season is done.”
Michel hinting the new era of F2 that is about to come
The next race of the 2026 F2 championship is going to be on the first weekend of September in Monza. Michel teased that it will be an interesting weekend, as the new F2 car will be unveiled. For now, the teams and drivers can take a break before they go back to revising the data and getting ready for a powerful title fight and intense weekends.
“Now it’s time for a little bit of a break, which will be enjoyed by everyone in the paddock. Looking ahead though, Monza will be a special weekend.”
“We’ll be introducing the new F2 car that we’ve been working on for a while with our partners, Aramco, Pirelli, Dallara and Mecachrome, and the car has started track testing too.”
“We’re into a quite extensive programme of development for the car now, and we’ll introduce it on Saturday in the F1 paddock. We are very excited about it and hope you all will be too. It looks really good, and it’s going to be a great racing car. Until then, have a great summer!”
The summer break of the 2026 F2 Championship will end on September 4th. Michel is sure that the series will never be the same as before with the development of the cars.
