Laurens van Hoepen secured third place in the 2026 F2 Spanish GP Sprint Race after an eventful afternoon in Madrid, converting his soft-tyre strategy into a podium finish.
The TRIDENT driver started fourth on the reverse grid and was one of only three drivers, alongside Gabriele Minì and Mari Boya, to begin the Sprint Race on the soft compound. While Ritomo Miyata took the lead from reverse-grid polesitter Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. at the start, Van Hoepen soon found himself fighting Noel León for the final podium position.
Van Hoepen eventually found his way past the Campos Racing driver and moved into third. León briefly regained the position after leaving the track before Van Hoepen reclaimed P3 and began chasing Fittipaldi Jr. ahead. A late Safety Car closed the field up and gave the Dutchman another opportunity, but he could not find a way past the AIX Racing driver before the chequered flag. Miyata secured his maiden F2 victory, with Fittipaldi Jr. taking second and Van Hoepen completing the podium.
Van Hoepen breaks down his move on León
Speaking in the post-Sprint Race press conference attended by Pit Debrief, Van Hoepen admitted that his start had not gone to plan. However, he believed the pace advantage provided by his tyre choice left him knowing that he needed to find a way past León despite the Madring’s limited overtaking opportunities.
“Yeah, I mean, it started with the start, wasn’t great. And from that point on, we had like, yeah, just overpaced, I think, on the rest of the field, also because of the compound that we were on. So I knew I had to make the move at some point. It’s just very, very tough to pass in this track. So I tried to prepare as much as I could. And then when I thought, like, he wasn’t fully paying attention, I thought, OK, now is my chance. And I went for it and it worked out. It worked out well.”
Although the battle did not end immediately after his initial attempt, Van Hoepen described the move as calculated rather than overly aggressive. With passing proving difficult around the Madrid circuit, he felt committing to the opportunity was necessary.
“Just then, I think it took one more lap before I actually got the position. But yeah, I mean, it was a good move, I think. Calculated. It wasn’t anything crazy. Barely made the corner. But yeah, I think that’s the way you have to pass on this track. So we pulled it off and we did a good job there.”
Late pressure on Fittipaldi Jr. falls short
The second Safety Car of the F2 Sprint Race in Madrid gave Van Hoepen a final opportunity to challenge Fittipaldi Jr. for second place. Once racing resumed, he immediately applied pressure to the Brazilian and remained close throughout the closing stages.
With Miyata building a gap at the front, the fight for second became the main battle among the podium runners. Despite getting within striking distance on several occasions, Van Hoepen could not produce another successful move before the end of the race. Van Hoepen explained that following another car around the Madring made attacking particularly difficult. His soft tyres had also begun to lose performance by the closing laps, leaving him hoping that pressure might force Fittipaldi Jr. into an error.
“I mean, it’s hard to follow on this track because the overtaking opportunities are very little and you just really have to prepare your pass very well. So I was trying to push in the right places. But at that point on, my tires were also fading a little bit. So it started to get more tough and more tough. But yeah, I was really hoping that he’d make his mistake somewhere. And I got close a couple of times, but it just wasn’t enough.”
Soft-tyre gamble remains competitive throughout Sprint Race
While most of the F2 field selected the hard compound for Saturday’s Sprint Race in Madrid, Van Hoepen joined Minì and Boya in opting for the soft tyre. The strategy initially promised an advantage in the opening stages, although the TRIDENT driver expected the compound to lose more performance towards the end of the race. Instead, Van Hoepen found that the balance between the compounds remained relatively consistent throughout the Sprint. Although he viewed that longevity positively, he was left slightly disappointed that he could not use the tyre choice to achieve more.
“Well, that was the plan. I mean, we were hoping for it to be a bit better in the start of the race and then maybe a bit worse in the end. But it stayed quite similar throughout the race. So that was something positive. Just a bit of a shame that we couldn’t make more of it.”
Strategy could open opportunities in Feature Race
Van Hoepen faces a different challenge in Sunday’s Feature Race after qualifying seventh on Friday. Dino Beganovic will start from pole position, with Alex Dunne and Rafael Câmara completing the top three on the grid. With overtaking already proving difficult during the Sprint, making progress from seventh will not necessarily come easily. However, Van Hoepen took confidence from successfully completing a pass on Saturday and expects the mandatory pit stop and greater strategic variation of the Feature Race to create further possibilities.
“Yeah, I mean, difficult to overtake here, but I made a pass today. So I hope I can make a few more tomorrow. And I think the strategy is also going to play a big part in the race tomorrow. So yeah, we’ll try to work a bit tonight and see what the best is for us and then hopefully capitalize on that also tomorrow.”
