MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì leaves the F2 Silverstone Sprint Race with regrets, having been forced to settle for a P2 finish after a last-lap mistake cost him victory to Nikola Tsolov. Starting from reverse-grid pole, the Italian led from the outset and appeared to be in control for most of the race.
However, a lock-up heading into Turn 3 opened the door for Tsolov to lunge down the inside and take the lead on the final lap. Although Minì leaves slightly frustrated, he continues to impress with his consistency, with the result marking his eighth podium of the 2026 F2 season.
Reflecting on the costly mistake in the post-Sprint press conference attended by Pit Debrief, Minì recalled the incident, explaining: “I think it was quite straightforward, I just pushed a bit more in Turn 1 and T2 and I just arrived a bit too quick into the corners and I locked up. I missed a corner and that was just a stupid mistake.
Despite acing the safety car restart and leading for most of the race, Minì said the majority of his race was spent managing his tyres. With Tsolov closing in behind, he had accepted that he would not be able to keep the Bulgarian behind.
“Yeah, at least myself, I had to manage quite a lot. It was quite a tricky one.”, Minì said. “I was starting to struggle already, like 12 laps to the end. So when Nikola started getting in the DRS, to be honest, I was not really expecting to be able to keep him behind. I still managed to until the last lap, so yeah, still just some work to do.”
Mutual respect between Minì and Tsolov
Heading into Sunday’s Feature Race, Tsolov is now level on points with Minì in the Drivers’ Standings, with the pair tied at the top on 116 points. Despite being direct rivals in the title fight, Minì briefly reflected on their past in the Alpine Driver Academy together and spoke highly of the Bulgarian.
The Italian said: “I mean, we’ve been together in the Alpine Academy in 2023 and 2024, so we shared a lot of training days together and so we know each other quite well and he’s a really nice guy. Of course, we are rivals on track, but we always respect each other, so it’s quite nice to have such a nice championship battle.”
Speaking about the importance of maximising the Sprint Race, Minì hopes to score more points and make the most of Sunday’s race. With his other championship rivals starting ahead, the 21 year-old has his sights set on gaining on his rivals.
“I mean, yeah, it’s quite important starting from P1. I think the goal is always to try and gain points on the rivals that will start from the front tomorrow. We know, though, as you mentioned, that F2 is quite, say, can be a chaotic championship and can be many things happening in a single race.”
“So with the pit stop and everything, you know, just doing some work overnight, we can still try and gain good points even tomorrow.”
Minì: F2 Silverstone Feature Race will require a “different approach”
In response to a question from Pit Debrief, the Italian explained that the team will need to make improvements overnight ahead of the Feature Race and adopt a slightly different approach from P10.
“I mean, for me, it would be a bit different approach in a way. I’ve always been in clean air apart from, I mean, half of the last lap. So it will be a bit different. Niko [Tsolov] showed though that you can still be quick following cars.”
“So just have to fix, you know, what we missed today overnight, looking at data. So what I can do better and what the team can do differently. And then we will see tomorrow.”
Noting that the earlier race start could bring different weather conditions, Minì said he and the team would wait to see how the race unfolds.
“I think it’s going to be still a question mark because track condition, wind, and of course, everyone would have worked as well are a factor. So we’ll just do our best and see tomorrow.”
“The goal is always to maximise the results” says Minì
“I mean, Nikola pretty much said it all in the end. If to win, you have to create the opportunity and risk quite a lot.”, Minì said, echoing similar sentiments to the Red Bull Junior when asked about a sustainable approach to maintaining a championship challenge.
“Of course, that’s not sustainable because you can go well once or twice, but the other three or four times, you know, I can go wrong. So in the end, the goal is always to maximise the results, whether for me it’s been podiums and for Nikola it’s been wins, but we’re both tied on points.”
“So we just have to keep on doing what we’ve been doing, which is to maximise everything and then see, of course, once again, if you can win, you win.If not, you arrive the best you can.”
