Martinius Stenshorne faced one of the toughest tests Formula 2 could offer, making his debut on the unforgiving streets of Baku. The Norwegian handled it with maturity beyond his years, qualifying inside the top 10 and lining up P8 for his first race at this level. Technical problems and race-ending contact meant the points slipped away in both the Sprint and Feature, but Stenshorne still left Azerbaijan encouraged by the experience and progress made.
“It feels good to race in F2,” said Stenshorne after the weekend. “Of course, it’s always nice to make a step up into a new category. It’s always nice to drive something that’s a bit quicker, I was looking forward to it.”
“I don’t think it’s the easiest track to jump in around, but it was a good challenge, and also good to get some experience on a track like Baku as well.”
“When the opportunity comes you just have to take it. So even though it wasn’t the easiest track, it’s still a good thing to learn it for the future. It’s a track that we’ll come back to so better to know it now.”
From Monza to Baku overnight
Stenshorne had barely finished his Formula 3 campaign in Monza — where he ended the season fifth in the standings — before his preparations for Formula 2 began. Driving for TRIDENT, he made the short trip from Monza to the team’s base to start simulator work and learn the procedures of an F2 weekend.
“We finished in Monza and with TRIDENT being close to Monza, I stayed in Italy and then went there on the Monday and Tuesday,” he explained. “We went through some procedures, and we did some simulator to learn the track.”
“It was challenging, of course, through the castle section is quite tight, and there’s some big, heavy braking zones around Baku. But there was a bit of everything. The track is one thing and learning it at the same time as the car made it a bit harder, but I think I showed I was ready for the challenge.”
That preparation paid off as he earned a place inside the top 10 in Qualifying — no small feat on debut at a circuit as demanding as Baku. But Stenshorne admitted the real difficulty lay not in learning the track, but in mastering a new car with limited track time.
“I would say a new track you can learn it quite quickly, where the corners are, and then it’s about getting to the limit,” he said. “But then you also have to find the limit of the car itself — that’s the main difficulty.”
“But, I’d done a lot of sim, so I knew what to expect a little bit, but it’s always something a bit different when you get there in real life.”
Eyes on the future with Rodin
Despite two DNFs masking what had been a strong debut showing, Stenshorne left Baku feeling satisfied with his progress. With Rodin Motorsport already confirming him as their first driver for the 2026 season, the Norwegian is viewing his cameo as an invaluable first taste of Formula 2. Stenshorne said, “It’s mainly experience, of course. It’s difficult to set a results target. It’s mainly to get as many laps as possible, get some experience under the belt, and be ready for the next time I can jump in the car.”
“Ultimately, it’s about getting the experience. Nice results would have been nice, but that experience is the most important thing when you don’t have so much running.”
“Of course, you have the post-season and pre-season testing. But apart from that, there’s not so much running. So, it’s good to learn F2 on a race weekend as well, with the pit stops and the tyre preservation, learning about the brakes and everything else. I think it was a very important weekend for me.”
For Stenshorne, the learning process has only just begun — but his performance in Baku suggested that the step-up to F2 is one he is more than capable of making.
