Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne heads into the sixth round of the 2026 F2 season at Spielberg hoping to bounce back from a tough weekend in Barcelona, where he left without scoring any points. The weekend marked an uncharacteristic outing for the Norwegian, who has impressed with his consistency so far this year despite a few misfortunes.
“I’m feeling good. Obviously, my only Feature Race win in F3 came here last year, so that’s positive.”, Stenshorne reflected. “Barcelona didn’t really go very well. It’s not what we wanted, so we are looking to bounce back this weekend and hopefully get back to the form that we had earlier this year.”
Having qualified P16 in Barcelona, the 20 year-old pointed to an untimely red flag that “ruined” their weekend, while a brake issue during the Feature Race made matters worse and left him to rue a non-points-scoring weekend.
He said: “We had the Red Flag in qualifying which ruined our weekend. Then I think we also stopped a bit early in the Feature Race and then had a little brake issue from the midway point to the end, which didn’t help us. So the brake issue and qualifying at the back, I think those two things didn’t allow us to take any points home.”
“It’s a track you can overtake” — Stenshorne on overtaking opportunities at Red Bull Ring
In 2025, Stenshorne claimed his sole F3 Feature Race victory of the year in Spielberg, inheriting the win after Nikola Tsolov was disqualified. Having started 15th on the grid and eventually making his way onto the podium, Stenshorne noted that his performance demonstrated overtaking is definitely possible around the Red Bull Ring.
“It’s like any track in that you try to qualify as high as possible. But obviously it’s possible to overtake in the races here, we showed that last year in F3. Starting 15th in the Feature Race and crossing the line in P2 shows that it’s a track you can overtake.”
Hoping that his fortunes turn around this weekend, the Norwegian hopes to find himself further up the grid with competitive race pace.
“But I’m looking to try to make our weekend a bit easier than we did in Barcelona, I’m trying to qualify a bit higher. Hopefully, we also have a good race pace.”
Stenshorne on slipstreams and tow effect at Spielberg
“I think you will see many different approaches. I don’t think it’s a negative having a tow but at the same time, from the last bit of sector two to the end of the lap, you don’t want dirty air in the fast corners.”, he explained.
Drawing on Dennis Hauger and Luke Browning’s approaches to qualifying in previous seasons, Stenshorne added that both opening a lap alone and using a slipstream have worked, noting that there is no single correct approach to tackling a push-lap around the Red Bull Ring.
“Looking back at previous years, both doing it all alone and with a slipstream have worked. So I don’t think there’s anything that is right or wrong. Dennis Hauger, a couple of years ago, did it on his own, and so did Luke Browning that year in F3.”
“So for sure both are possible. We have to see how it goes in qualifying and take it as it comes. But we haven’t really planned anything yet.”, he said.
Aiming to return to the top after a tough round in Barcelona
Having acknowledged that Barcelona was not his best weekend so far, the Rodin driver emphasised the importance of bouncing back as quickly as possible, saying: “When you have a bad weekend it’s always nice to try to be back as soon as possible. You want to try to bounce back as quickly as you can, to be honest.”
“I think Barcelona is not where we should be and not where we have been, so hopefully we are back to where we have been already earlier in the season, which is fighting at the top, qualifying at the top and having a good weekend.”
Currently sitting 7th in the Drivers’ Standings with 48 points, Stenshorne hopes to leave the 2026 F2 Spielberg weekend with a strong points haul to add to his tally.
“I’m looking very much forward to going back out as soon as possible and hopefully we can do well and take some good points home.”
