A brilliant sprint race victory from first-time winner Noel Leon marked Formula 2′s official debut in Canada.
The Mexican driver showcased a clinical performance from lights out to the chequered flag, overcoming immense pressure from their rivals and several Safety Car restarts. Behind him, Gabriele Mini and Martinius Stenshorne rounded out the first-ever F2 podium in Canada.
Following yesterday’s qualifying session, both Camara and Alex Dunne were awarded three-place grid penalties for impeding. Despite finishing second and third, respectively, the pair will carry the penalty in both races this weekend. Changing their races and strategy.
Elsewhere. Ollie Goethe will start both races from P21. The stewards deemed Goethe to be the sole reason for the Red Flag, which ended the session; thus, his fastest time was deleted, demoting him to the back of the grid.
ART’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak withdrew from the Canadian Grand Prix weekend following a heavy collision with the wall in qualifying.
As it happened
Lining up on the reverse-grid front row were the last race winner Gabriele Mini and Rafael Villagomez. Heading into this race, Mini sits second in the championship, on equal points with reigning Formula 3 Champion Camara. With Championship Leader Nikola Tsolov starting down in seventh, and Camara in 12th, a solid race from the Italian could prove crucial for the championship.
As the lights went out for the first race in Canada, it was Mini who had a great start, concealing his lead into Turn 1. Villagomez struggled off the line, causing him to drop down to fourth. Joshua Durksen and Leon both had fast starts and immediately placed themselves in podium contention.
Elsewhere in the field, Camara also had a slow start, dropping a further two positions after his three-place grid penalty.
As the race progressed, Mini began to extend his lead at the front of the field. After three laps, the Italian was able to grow his lead to over two seconds over the rest of the field.
A DRS train began to form around Lap 4, with Leon leading the field after Mini. However, this didn’t stop Invicta’s Durksen from shaping a move on his rival, claiming second place once more in this race.
Battle for P2
With Mini sailing away into the distance, the battle for the last two podium positions continued to heat up. Whilst Durksen claimed the position during Lap 4, Leon stayed within touching distance of the Invita car out front, all while defending from Villagomez behind.
During Lap eight, there was yet another change for the position, with Leon getting past the veteran F2 driver. Immediately setting his sights on race leader Mini.
The gap was immediately cut down, from over 2 seconds to 1.4 seconds in just two laps. Leon placed himself in the box seat to challenge Mini soon.
However, the continuous racing ended with a Safety Car during Lap 12. Stenshorne and Tsolov were focused on battling each other, in turn making contact with Bennett and taking the TRIDENT driver out of the race.
The Safety Car ended after two laps, allowing Mini to lead the pack away once more. Despite losing his built-up lead, the Italian’s tyre saving early in the race could prove dividends.
On the restart, Mini goes late, putting Leon right on his tail down into Turn 1, also inviting Durksen into the battle for the victory, Despite the pressure, Mini clings to the lead, retaining his position he had since the race start.
Joshua Durksen receives a 5-second time penalty for an earlier collision with Noel Leon. To make matters worse, the Paraguayan was overtaken and demoted to fourth place on Lap 16.
The next lap saw Durksen move down to sixth, with Stenshorne and Tsolov now challenging for the podium places.
Despite their intense battle, Mini and Leon were able to create a three-second gap between themselves and the rest of the field. Patience paid off for Leon, who was able to sail past the Italian on Lap 18.
Safety Cars and podium battles
Whilst Leon sailed to the lead, Durksen’s Saturday went from bad to worse. The Invicta driver, who was running in the midfield, was spun around by Alex Dunne, causing him to retire from the race.
Also, bringing out the Safety Car with nine laps remaining.
On Lap 21, the Safety Car was brought in, placing Leon in control of the field. As the drivers head down to Turn 1, Leon immediately consolidated his race lead, moving himself a second clear of Mini in before the 22nd lap ends.
Further back in the field, both Dunne and Tsolov were awarded 10-second time penalties for separate incidents at Lap 10.
Final Laps
As drivers head into the final three laps, chaos ensues. Villagomez, who was running in third, made contact with the wall on Lap 25, taking himself out of the race and bringing out a very late Virtual Safety Car on Lap 26.
This promoted the Rodin do of Dunne and Stenshorne into third and fourth on the road.
The VSC came to an end on Lap 27, allowing drivers with two laps of racing to make up any last places they could. Mini and Dunne were locked in an intense last-lap battle, with Dunne fighting to salvage what he could from a race cursed with a 10-second penalty.
Despite his best efforts, it was futile, as he crossed the line third, but dropped down to thirteenth following the penalty.
But there was no catching Noel Leon, who became the first Mexican since Sergio Perez to win a Formula 2 Race. As well as the first-ever F2 race winner in Canada.
Mini and Stenshorne rounded out the podium for the first race in Canada. It was a hard-fought battle for the pair of them, who will carry this confidence into tomorrow’s Feature Race.
Whilst Mini settled for second on the road there was a bigger win waiting for him. The Alpine-backed driver outscored his main championship rivals, giving him the championship lead following the Sprint Race. Behind him was Camara, and Tsolov was demoted to third after finishing outside of the points.
Formula 2 will be back for its final 2026 race in North America, tomorrow for the Feature Race.
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