Gabriele Minì described his recovery drive in the F2 Feature Race at the 2026 Belgian GP as one of his best after fighting back from an opening-lap collision, a stall and a five-second penalty to finish fifth at Spa-Francorchamps.
The MP Motorsport driver started from 14th but immediately gained ground with a strong launch. However, contact with Roman Bilinski at La Source sent both drivers into difficulty, while Minì also stalled his car and dropped to the rear of the field.
An early Safety Car allowed him to remain in contention before the timing of his mandatory pit stop and the subsequent red flag brought him back towards the pack. Minì then produced a series of overtakes to cross the line in sixth before post-race penalties promoted him to fifth.
From an opening-lap stall to the back of the field
Minì’s F2 Feature Race at the 2026 Belgian GP threatened to unravel before the field had completed the opening sector. After gaining positions at the start, the Italian found himself partly on the grass as the drivers approached the first corner.
With little grip available on cold tyres, he could not slow the car sufficiently and made contact with Bilinski. Race Control later handed Minì a five-second penalty for causing the collision.
“To be honest, it was the messiest race ever. I did a mega start, and then I got pushed on the grass, and I could not stop the car because I was on the grass with one tyre. Once you start locking on cold tyres, it’s impossible to stop it. I still managed to stop the car quite well but I was way too tight, so the angle was not good. Nobody saw me so I just had contact with Bilinski. I still managed to keep the car on track, but then I stalled. So I just rolled down, and after a switch-off, switch-on, I managed to restart the car.”
Minì fights his way back into the points
The Safety Car, which appeared following several opening-lap incidents, allowed Minì to close the gap after restarting his car. He later made his mandatory stop and served his penalty before the red flag halted the race following Laurens van Hoepen’s heavy accident.
The interruption helped Minì regain contact with the drivers ahead, but he still needed to make progress on track once racing resumed. He attacked throughout the closing stages and completed several overtakes as he climbed back into the points.
“I was miles behind, but it was a Safety Car, so I was very lucky. To be honest after that I arrived at the cliff of the tyres, I boxed, and the Red Flag helped us quite a lot. Then after it was one of my best races. I then kept on overtaking and overtaking, and the overtakes were clean, very on the edge, I almost went off a few times. But still, a very good one, very happy.”
Minì came close to gaining another position after Alex Dunne received a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. Although the Italian could not finish close enough to move ahead of Dunne in the final classification, other post-race penalties elevated him to fifth.
“It’s a shame to have missed P4 by a few tenths, with Dunne having a penalty, but I think this was probably one of my best races in terms of driving and overtakes, so I’m quite happy.”
Minì limits the damage after a difficult weekend
The fifth-place finish provided a valuable conclusion to an otherwise challenging weekend for Minì and MP Motorsport.
Minì had started the F2 Feature Race at the 2026 Belgian GP behind several of his championship rivals after qualifying 14th. Rafael Câmara began from pole and went on to win, while Nikola Tsolov finished third and Dunne secured fourth place after the penalties had been applied.
Although those results meant Minì lost ground in the standings, his recovery ensured that he still left Spa-Francorchamps with ten points from the Feature Race.
“This weekend we were quite struggling a bit. So it is what it is, but we still go home again with ten points. Of course, we lost points in terms of championship, but it could have been much worse. I’m very satisfied, I’m leaving this track quite happy. I think it was quite a good race apart from the first corner, and we did the best we could, to be honest.”
No fixed expectations for Budapest
Minì will now turn his attention to the next round of the championship at the Hungaroring.
The Italian has previously shown strong pace at the circuit, but he does not want his past performances to create fixed expectations. Instead, Minì intends to concentrate on maximising his work with MP Motorsport and assessing the team’s position once the weekend begins.
“Expectations are really something you can’t have. But the only thing you can do is to give your best and work as best as you can, and then you’ll see where you are after. I did win one race in 2023 and was on for a very quick lap in ’24, but then we got a Red Flag. In F2 it was a bit trickier, but still, it’s a different team, different here, different there, so I’m ready. Fingers crossed.”
After rescuing fifth place from a race that began with contact and a stall, Minì will arrive in Budapest with renewed confidence and another important points finish behind him.
