Gabriele Mini took a stunning victory in the Formula 2 Sprint Race, making a lunge on Montoya which secured his win at the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.
Sebastian Montoya was starting on pole for the Sprint Race, with championship contender Mini alongside him. Both drivers were looking to take the lead into the first corner, as overtaking is difficult around the winding corners of Hungaroring.
Montoya held the lead
It was a strong start for Montoya as Mini was slow off the line, facing a challenge from Nikola Tsolov and Dino Beganovic behind.
Montoya held his lead into the first corner and used the chaos behind to build his gap out front as Mini and Tsolov ran side by side in the opening turns.
Tsolov tried to challenge the Italian driver, sweeping around the outside of the MP driver. However, it wasn’t enough as Mini held strong in his defence and maintained second.
The gap out front was growing quickly between Montoya and Mini, but with 28 laps in the race, the Italian was likely holding back in hopes of having the pace in the closing stages.
On the third lap, Mini set the fastest lap, confirming that the Italian was initially holding back.
Just a lap later, the MP driver went faster again on the best lap time, the Alpine junior closing in on the PREMA out front quickly. Behind, Tsolov had dropped out of the DRS range of the top two and was falling under pressure from Begnaovic and the DRS train behind.
Further back through the order, Joshua Duerksen was closing in on the back of Kush Maini, the duo fighting for eighth place. Despite the gap coming down to 0.9s, Duerksen was struggling to make it past the Alpine junior.
Hungaroring is frequently referred to as “Monaco without the walls”, the tight and closed nature of the track requiring similar precision to Monaco but equally making overtaking just as difficult.
That likeness became apparent early in the Sprint Race with a DRS train from third to 10th, with drivers unable to make it past their opponents.
Mini made a move
The gap between Mini and Montoya fluctuated, the Italian taking time to drop in and out of the DRS range.
Mini looked around the outside of the PREMA driver into Turn 3, the duo going side-by-side as the Alpine junior made the most of the grip. He was unable to make the move stick as the gap fell back to 0.8s and he had to bide his time.
In eighth place, Maini was told on the radio to be cautious and patient as just 9 laps of the race had elapsed. Mini was given the same message at the front of the pack. The MP team urged Mini to watch his tyres and make the move when he could confidently pull it off.
The gap was back down between the leaders in the next lap, coming to just 0.4s.
On Lap 11, Montoya ran wide, kicking up dust as he dipped his tyres off the racing line. The mistake allowed the MP driver to close in even further, but the PREMA driver held onto the lead.
By Lap 14, the field had settled into the order, with the majority of the grid biding their time behind their opponents while looking to put in a late push for positions.
At the back of the field, the two AIX drivers went side by side as Cian Shields went wheel to wheel with Emerson Fittipaldi. Shields came out on top through the battle on the outside, taking 21st.
Duerksen took a run off the track, losing time to Maini ahead, which dropped him 2.5 seconds behind the ART driver.
Mini on Montoya
Mini took his charge on Montoya down onto the start-finish line. He dove around the outside of the PREMA driver into Turn 1 and broke late. However, Montoya locked up and overshot the corner, which opened the door for Mini to put in the switch back, and the Italian took the race lead.
The PREMA driver tried to hold close to Mini but was losing ground as Tsolov closed in on Montoya.
Tsolov tried to repeat Mini’s move, lunging down the inside of Montoya, narrowly avoiding contact. The Championship leader was too far back to make the move stick, but the gap remained at 0.6s.
Begnaovic also looked to take advantage of the fight out front; he closed in on Tsolov’s gearbox and put pressure on the Bulgarian driver.
Meanwhile, out front, Mini put in the fastest lap once again; the MP driver building his lead to 2.5 seconds.
It was a disaster for Montoya and Tsolov, the Bulgarian driver making a bold move down the inside of the PREMA driver. The duo made contact as Tsolov rammed into the side of Montoya, bringing on the worry of a potential grid penalty for the Feature Race.
Montoya pulled over in the run-off area, unable to continue as Tsolov was limping around the circuit.
Virtual Safety Car
A Virtual Safety Car was brought out as Tsolov came into the pit lane as the Campos drivers hoped to fix the car.
On Lap 22, the race went green, and Mini still held a gap of 2.6 seconds, which gave him a significant lead. While in the pit lane, Tsolov got out of his car, as the damage was irreparable.
For the championship battle, the mistake was grave for Tsolov, who lost out on any points in the Sprint Race and with an investigation after the race, the Bulgarian was likely to receive a grid drop for the Feature Race.
Noel Leon received a five-second time penalty for a VSC infringement, which put him likely out of the points.
Laurens Van Hoepen locked up in the final corners of the lap, which brought Rafa Camara closer and within touching distance of a podium finish.
With just two laps left in the Sprint Race, Mini was lapping one second faster than Beganovic in second. The gap out front was growing to 3.5 seconds.
Mini crossed the line to take his first victory since Miami and close the championship gap with Tsolov by 11 points. Dino Beganovic and Laurens Van Hoepen took the final podium positions.
Camara finished the Sprint Race in fourth, with Maini and Inthraphuvasak crossing the line fifth and sixth. Duerksen finished seventh, and Martinius Stenshorne took the final point for the Sprint.
READ MORE: Formula 2 2026 Hungarian GP – Sprint Race Results
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