MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì heads into the sixth round of the 2026 F2 season at Spielberg leading the Drivers’ Standings with 86 points. The 21 year-old has impressed with his consistency throughout his sophomore campaign with MP Motorsport, scoring points in all but one race so far.
Fresh off a double podium finish in Barcelona, Minì will look to extend his championship lead and maintain his strong run of form. Speaking in a virtual media session attended by Pit Debrief, the Italian reflected on his season so far, discussed MP Motorsport’s culture, highlighted his goals for the title and shared his thoughts on how the heat in Austria could influence racing this weekend.
Not “overcomplicating” things key to success at MP Motorsport
Having switched from PREMA Racing, where he spent his rookie F2 campaign, to MP Motorsport this season, Minì explained: “Yeah, well, I think each one of the team have a lot different way of work, of course.”
“In a way, the communication is the key because it just gives both the driver and engineer something clear to work with and to work together on a way, let’s say a structured way. So, we keep the communication very simple.”
Drawing on Richard Verschoor’s experience with the team last year, Minì emphasised that MP Motorsport has found success by keeping things simple rather than overcomplicating them, adding that there has been a clear difference from last season.
“Usually, that’s what I like about working with Paolo, my engineer. Everything is very simple. We don’t overcomplicate anything and, you know, as I said, we don’t make our life harder than what it should be. So, it’s very important because also it just helps even with the mental state.”
“So, in a way, it’s true what Richard [Verschoor] said. It’s key. It’s very different from last year and I think it’s also one of the big differences, you know aside from the team, that there is in the way of work compared to last year, I mean.”
Managing overheating tyres in Spielberg’s heat
Heading into the weekend, Minì noted that the extreme heat had already been present in Barcelona last weekend. However, he believes that it will significantly change how teams warm up their tyres and approach the lap, adding that any minor mistake will impact their runs.
“It’s really, of course, really, really hot, but it was already the case in the past weekend in Barcelona. It for sure will change quite a lot the way we warm up the tyres and the way even, you know, not we change our driving through the lap, but we know that every single mistake, every single locking or, you know, snap of overshoot that you create will affect even more towards the end.”
While he expects degradation to remain similar, the 21 year-old believes the key challenge will be managing overheating and keeping temperatures under control.
He added: “I think in terms of degradation itself, it will not change massively, but it will change in terms of over-heating. So, once again, it will just be about keeping everything under control even more, you know. It’s not like in the races where it’s cold, you don’t do that already, but this weekend I think we will see really, really high temperatures. So, it will be even more important.”
Contrasting fortunes at MP Motorsport
The start of the 2026 F2 season has brought contrasting fortunes for the team’s drivers, with Minì enjoying a run of consistent points-scoring finishes while teammate Oliver Goethe has endured a tougher campaign. Goethe has scored points only in the Melbourne Feature Race so far and currently sits 17th in the Drivers’ Standings.
When asked by Pit Debrief how the team has managed the dynamic and how information is shared in preparation for race weekends, the Italian expressed empathy and believes his teammate has not yet shown his true potential.
“Well, at the moment, Ollie [Goethe] has been, let’s say, he’s been there with the speed. He’s not been slow. Just not everything went on his way, I believe.”
“But in terms of the way we work, you know, we always try to, you know, take the best corner out of each and push each other to the limit, you know. The results, I think, do not show his full potential for sure. So, it’s also helpful, you know, to have him as a teammate. Because as I said, the speed is not his problem.”
Minì added: “So, it’s good for me also to watch his data and try and learn. But then the way we share information, everything remains the same. To be honest, we worked very well straight away from testing in Abu Dhabi. We keep on working well and, you know, towards the season and even this weekend.”
“So, nothing really changes in terms of that. But for sure, it’s not ideal for the team in terms of constructors championship. But once again, I’m sure that as soon as things will go well for him, he will be up there together with me. So, yeah, we’ll just see how everything evolves for the rest of the season.”
Minì: “Consistency has been the key for the current lead in the championship”
“In the end, to be honest, consistency has been the key for the current lead in the championship. In the end, I think I’m one of the few ones that score points every weekend and almost every race apart from one where I finished 11th.”, Minì said, crediting his strong run of form so far for his position at the top of the Drivers’ Standings.
“And yeah, but as I mentioned before, clearly some weekends, even in Canada, we got double podium. We were not fast enough for that, but we just survived to the fields in a way. We just maximised everything. But the races where we’ve been the quickest, I think for sure it was Melbourne and Miami.”
Reflecting on his season so far, noting that despite setbacks like the ones he faced in Melbourne, they still fought for strong results in both the Sprint and Feature Races. Minì added that the team has shown they can fight for wins when the pace is there, even if recent weekends has been more about podium-level competitiveness.
“In the end, in the wet, we managed to take the win [in Miami]. And even on the dry in Melbourne, after the issue in qualifying, starting last, we were fighting for the sprint, even for the podium. In the future race, we still managed to get points.”
“So that clearly shows that when we have the pace, we can fight for wins. The past few weekends, we haven’t had the pace to fight for wins, but still for podiums. And for sure, coming here to Austria, I mean, it’s hard to really predict anything.”
Aiming to maximise each weekend
“If we see that we are fast enough to get the pole and win, there’s no point in me telling you I would be happy with the P5. Of course, the goal is always to try and maximise. So if we are fast enough to win, we have to win.”, he said in continuation.
For Minì, the focus remains on purely maximising every points-scoring opportunity, whether that means a P5 finish or a race win. He added that while he is not focusing about what his championship rivals are currently doing, the priority is to execute each race based on their pace this weekend.
“If we are fast enough to be P5, we go P5. It does not really matter whether the people that are close to me in the championship win or not, because it’s not in our control. The key is to maximise the result and does not really matter what the others do. Coming here to Austria, we know that for sure, if we have the pace to win, we have to try and win.”
“And if we have the pace to try and arrive at P5, that’s what we have to do. So we know where the pace and the disadvantages, and that’s what we try to work to improve already in this week break. And we see if something changes for Austria.”
Preparation and acclimatising to extreme heat
When asked about preparing for a race in extreme heat, he echoed similar sentiments to Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen, saying: “So yeah, a bit like Laurens [van Hoepen] mentioned, to be honest, it’s just not so easy in a way for us drivers driving with this heat. But I mean, it comes mainly with the hydration and preparing also before and with my trainer. We try to have some training with very high temperatures in a way to get used to this kind of condition.”
“To be honest, once you’re driving, I mean, aside from all the techniques that are different in terms of warm up and being careful to the tyres more, when you’re driving, it’s kind of ok. It’s harder, at least for me, when I’m staying still on the grid and there is no air cooling down. That’s very tough.”
“But as Laurens mentioned, even afterwards, to be proactive with food and drinks to just not suffer the heat, as much as you could, to be honest.”
Heading into the weekend, Minì, who has already taken five podiums and a win this season, will look to maintain his strong form at the 2026 F2 round in Spielberg and further extend his championship lead with another consistent points-scoring weekend.
