Gabriele Minì claimed his second victory of the 2026 FIA Formula 2 (F2) season after producing a controlled drive in the Sprint Race at the Hungarian GP.
The MP Motorsport driver started from the front row alongside reverse-grid polesitter Sebastián Montoya and remained patient during the opening stages at the Hungaroring. Minì protected his tyres before overtaking Montoya at Turn 1 on Lap 17 and pulling clear in clean air.
DAMS Lucas Oil driver Dino Beganovic finished second, while Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen completed the podium in third. Minì also gained valuable ground in the championship after title rival Nikola Tsolov retired following contact with Montoya.
Tyre management proves decisive
Minì identified tyre management as the key factor behind his F2 Sprint Race victory at the 2026 Hungarian GP. Rather than immediately forcing an attack, the Italian protected his tyres and waited until he held a clear pace advantage over Montoya.
“Yeah, first of all, thank you. I think the key was the tyre management, probably. We had quite good pace straight away, but I didn’t want to push too much too soon, let’s say. So I started was saving for some laps. And then when I knew that, we had some advantage, we just tried an attack. At first it didn’t work. Then after the second or third one worked. Then in clean air, of course, you have much more of an advantage. So it was all about managing well and getting clean air.“
Minì plans his decisive move on Montoya
Minì spent several laps following Montoya before completing the race-winning overtake. Although he held a pace advantage, the MP Motorsport driver needed to remain close through the technical middle sector to create an opportunity on the main straight.
He recognised that the final two corners provided his best chance to close the gap and planned his attack around that strength.
“Well, I knew where I was quicker. I was much quicker in the last two corners, which was always a help. So it was all about trying to follow in the second sector, which is the hardest part. And then once I managed to do that and be, I think, within three, four tenths, it was all about getting that last corner exit, which I did and managed to get a clean overtake.“
F2 Sprint Race provides valuable Feature Race lessons for Minì at Hungarian GP
Minì believes MP Motorsport can use the lessons from its strong Sprint Race performance when preparing for Sunday’s longer Feature Race. Despite demonstrating competitive pace and strong tyre management, he insisted that both he and the team could still find further improvements overnight.
“Well, definitely. Let’s say that we had a very good car today. So we clearly showed the pace. But yeah, of course, there is always something to learn and improve. You know, both my side and teams are wise. So we’ll take everything we can to try and at least to replicate or get even better tomorrow.“
Victory maintains Minì’s championship momentum
Minì arrived in Hungary after a positive Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps. Although he did not maximise qualifying at the Hungaroring, the reverse-grid format placed him on the front row for Saturday’s race.
The Italian capitalised on that position and collected the maximum 10 points available for a Sprint Race victory. Tsolov’s retirement also allowed Minì to reduce the championship leader’s advantage. Minì welcomed the result but stressed that the Feature Race would provide another important test, particularly with several championship rivals starting ahead of him.
Well, it’s always very important, you know, you have to try and keep always a good momentum. I think the race too, the feature race in Spa was already quite a good one. So we just kept the momentum going into this weekend. We, of course, didn’t manage to maximise very well the qualifying, but again, today was very good to try and stay in the podium position.”
“Then, of course, it’s good looking at the championship to gain points, but we have still the feature race tomorrow. Our contenders are starting ahead. So we still have to try and do a good job, but of course, it’s always needed, you know, you always want to reward the hard work with a win and with good results.
Minì continues his Hungaroring Sprint Race success
The victory marked Minì’s first Saturday win since his Formula 3 Sprint Race triumph at the Hungaroring in 2023.
However, Minì played down the suggestion that his results showed a particular preference for Saturday races in Hungary. He explained that the reverse-grid format often gives drivers who struggled in qualifying a better opportunity to compete at the front.
Minì nevertheless felt MP Motorsport had produced the quickest package in the Sprint Race. He continued setting competitive lap times before and after the Virtual Safety Car despite having already completed most of the race distance on his tyres.
“It’s always depending really from where you qualify. Of course, if you don’t do a great quali and then you start in the front in the sprint race, it’s a bit easier to try and fight for the win. So I don’t think it necessarily shows the best pace on Saturday. It’s depending from many things.”
“So yeah, today we clearly were the quickest. Even after, you know, before the safety car, we still managed to set fastest laps. And even after, we still managed to go even quicker. So clearly showed that we had a good pace. But of course, it’s 10 points against the 25 of the feature race. So if anything, I’d rather take full points on Sunday. But of course, we still take the 10 points very happily.“
Clean air transforms Minì’s tyre performance
Drivers carefully managed their tyres during the middle phase of the Sprint Race as the field formed a long DRS train.
Minì faced the difficult task of remaining close enough to Montoya to attack without damaging his tyres in dirty air. He also needed to find a way past while Montoya controlled the pace from the front.
Once Minì completed the overtake, clean air allowed him to increase his pace while placing less stress on the tyres. He believes track position could play an even greater role during the Feature Race, when drivers must also complete a mandatory pit stop.
“Yeah, it’s a bit what Dino [Beganovic] said in the end. We always try and manage the tyres on the first part of the race. And that’s why it was really hard for me to try and get past Sebas on the first laps. Then already, they say that the degradation doesn’t come so early on. But they’re overeating that. So let’s say that that helped me quite a lot with the balance we had, probably. And we were in a better position than Sebas and managed to overtake.”
“But once you get clean air, it’s a completely different story. I just started going quicker and probably sliding less on the tyre. So it’s really important, especially in this track, to manage at the beginning. But then the position in the track. So being clean or in dirty air makes a huge difference. Tomorrow we will see bigger differences, probably.“
Minì focuses on what MP Motorsport can control
Tsolov’s collision with Montoya during the F2 Sprint Race led to speculation that the championship leader could receive a grid penalty for the Feature Race, which later was confirmed by race control.
Such a penalty would remove one immediate obstacle from Minì’s path as he attempts to recover from his lower starting position. However, Minì insisted that MP Motorsport would not allow the circumstances surrounding its rivals to change its approach.
Instead, he plans to concentrate on maximising his own performance and moving as far forward as possible.
“It’s one car to overtake less. I think that’s the main difference, to be honest. In the end, we always will try and maximise our result, whether we start P8 or P9. We have to try and finish as far ahead as we can. We don’t really, let’s say, control what the others do. But as I said many times, we can control what we do. So that’s the only thing we will focus on. But of course, staying one position ahead always helps.“
Sprint victory increases confidence for Sunday
Minì’s ability to protect his tyres while maintaining a strong pace during the F2 Sprint Race at the Hungarian GP gave him additional confidence ahead of the longer race.
The Feature Race will present different conditions and strategic demands, while teams will use the Sprint Race data to make overnight improvements. Minì therefore stopped short of assuming that MP Motorsport would retain the same advantage on Sunday.
However, he believes the team’s performance provides a strong foundation.
“Well, it gives quite a lot of confidence going into the future race, the longer race. If we see today, I think we were clearly quite a lot stronger than everyone else in terms of tyres management. Of course, that does not mean that it will be the case once again tomorrow, because the track will change, the wind will change, everyone will work overnight. But it for sure gives us a good boost of confidence heading into tomorrow’s longer race.“
Minì hopes to carry Sprint pace into F2 Feature Race at the Hungarian GP
Pit Debrief asked the three podium finishers how much of their Sprint Race performance they could realistically carry into the Feature Race, given their different starting positions and the introduction of the mandatory pit stop.
Minì believes MP Motorsport has the pace to compete for another strong result. However, he acknowledged that strategy, changing track conditions and potential Safety Car periods could influence the outcome.
“Yeah, I mean, I think once again, looking at today’s pace, we can fight for good things tomorrow. We just have to work well overnight and adapt to the different track conditions. But in general, I think being quick on the first race always helps heading into the second one. We’ll see because it depends a lot on the strategy you do and on the safety car. So it depends on many factors, but for sure, being quick helps.“
Additional DRS zone makes only a small difference
Formula 2 introduced an additional DRS zone between Turns 11 and 12 for the Budapest weekend.
Drivers could use the zone to reduce the effect of dirty air before entering the final corners, potentially helping them remain closer to the car ahead before the main overtaking opportunity into Turn 1.
However, Minì felt the short length of the zone and the position of the kerbs limited its overall influence.
“Yeah, same thing. To be honest, I think already the DRS zone itself is quite short and I think you have to wait a bit before opening because you’re still on the double curb if you try and push. So maybe you gain half a tenth at the end, which I mean, yeah, you can make the difference, but it’s not a huge like the main DRS zone in the main straight, let’s say.“
Minì balances patience against the need to attack
Minì’s engineer reminded him during the race that he only needed to overtake one car to claim the victory, but that he had to complete the move cleanly.
The message reinforced the importance of patience. An early attack could have placed too much stress on Minì’s tyres or led to contact, while waiting too long could have allowed Montoya to escape.
Minì and MP Motorsport had discussed that balance before the race and used their previous experience to judge when to increase the pressure.
“Yeah, I mean, he said that because you don’t want to try and push too early because it’s really easy, as I said already previously, to just overpush on the tyres and end up losing more position instead of getting only one or keeping yours. So we spoke quite a lot about this before the race, but we got quite a lot of experience, so we know more or less what to expect also from previous years. In the end, it’s still very important to try and get the overtake, so you have to balance out the two things.“
Car balance and tyre management remain closely connected
Overtaking proved difficult around the Hungaroring, where the technical layout and limited number of long straights often make it challenging for drivers to follow closely.
Minì believes drivers must combine a well-balanced car with a clear understanding of tyre degradation. Any unnecessary sliding during the opening stages can create significant consequences later in the race.
“I think it’s a balance. You need to have a good balance and a good setup on the car, and at the same time, you have to make sure to understand quickly where the degradation is going to hit more or less and, you know, manage and think about that. So it’s all about these kind of things. But we know every slide, everything we do at the beginning of the race is going to cost us quite a lot, let’s say, towards the end. So as I said, I think it’s a 50-50 in a way.“
