F2 Belgian GP Sprint Race: Duerksen Beats Stenshorne at Spa as Minì’s Retirement Swings the Title Fight to Tsolov

Joshua Duerksen won the F2 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Sprint Race at Spa, holding off Martinius Stenshorne in a last-lap fight for his second victory of the season and Invicta Racing’s third consecutive win at the Spa round, with Dino Beganovic completing the podium for DAMS Lucas Oil. Behind the fight for the lead, the real championship drama played out in the pitlane. Gabriele Minì retired in the pitlane, and with Tsolov finishing fourth, the gap between them stretched to twenty-two points heading into Sunday’s Feature Race. Tsolov had arrived at Spa one win short of Formula 2’s single-season wins record, and Campos Racing two short of the teams’ record. Neither fell on Saturday, and both chases now carry into the Feature Race.

Key Points: F2 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Sprint Race

• Joshua Duerksen wins the F2 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Sprint Race, holding off Martinius Stenshorne on the final lap for his second win of the season and Invicta Racing’s third consecutive win at the Spa round.
• Dino Beganovic completes the podium in third for DAMS Lucas Oil.
• Gabriele Minì retires in the pitlane, and with Nikola Tsolov finishing fourth, the championship gap stretches to twenty-two points, 146 to 124, heading into Sunday’s Feature Race.
• Tsolov’s bid for Formula 2’s single-season wins record and Campos Racing’s bid for the teams’ record both remain unresolved and now carry into the Feature Race.
• Two Safety Car periods shape the race, triggered by Cian Shields’ crash at the Turn 7 exit and John Bennett’s spin at Blanchimont.
• Ritomo Miyata takes two five second penalties for track limits, while Mari Boya, Miyata and Rafael Villagómez each have a lap time deleted for leaving the track at Turn 19.

Race Recap: F2 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Sprint Race

The Start

Sebastián Montoya made the better getaway from pole, staying ahead of Stenshorne into Turn 1. Roman Bilinski had the opposite start, slow off the line and down from third to eighth before the opening lap was done. The fight for the lead did not settle there. Stenshorne used the tow to good effect, going around the outside of the PREMA Racing driver into Les Combes to take the lead.

Position Battles and the First Safety Car

Duerksen went wheel to wheel with Montoya through the final chicane for second place. The Colombian held on. Montoya steadied the car and used DRS on Lap 3 to close in on Stenshorne. Duerksen and Beganovic looked on as the top four began to pull clear of Tsolov. A few laps later Stenshorne had stretched that lead back out to 1.3 seconds. Further back, Oliver Goethe and Minì moved past Nico Varrone for eleventh and twelfth into Les Combes. Without the DRS advantage that had briefly closed the gap, Montoya could not stop Duerksen going through for second down the Kemmel Straight.

The Safety Car followed soon after. Cian Shields ended up in the barrier at the exit of Turn 7 after a wheel to wheel battle with Ritomo Miyata.

Duerksen Strikes

Racing resumed on Lap 8 with Stenshorne still leading, Beganovic defending fourth from Tsolov into Les Combes. On Lap 10 Beganovic turned defence into attack, taking advantage of a Montoya lock up at La Source to go past down the Kemmel Straight and into third. Tsolov tried to follow through at Turn 9, but Montoya shut the door and held the position.

At the front, Duerksen sat right on Stenshorne’s rear wing. He bided his time before taking the lead into Les Combes. Stenshorne stayed close across the following laps and had DRS to work with, but could not find a way back past.

Minì’s Retirement and the Second Safety Car

Minì’s afternoon ended in the pitlane, a tough day for the championship’s second-placed driver. Rafael Câmara moved further up the order, passing John Bennett for seventh down the Kemmel Straight on Lap 13. Bennett’s race unravelled soon after. He spun into a stoppage at Blanchimont, bringing out the second Safety Car of the afternoon. It was withdrawn on the penultimate lap.

The Restart and Final Lap

Duerksen managed the restart well and kept the lead into the final lap. Behind him, Montoya’s race fell apart in the space of one lap, dropping from fourth to ninth. Tsolov caught him by surprise with a move to the inside at Turn 1 to take fourth. Alexander Dunne went side by side with Montoya through Eau Rouge and Raidillon and took fifth as the PREMA driver ran wide. Montoya filtered back out onto the circuit behind Câmara and Bilinski, and Goethe passed him into Les Combes to complete the slide, dropping him to ninth and outside the points.

Duerksen held on to take his second win of the season, Invicta Racing’s third consecutive win at the Spa round following Leonardo Fornaroli’s Sprint win and Roman Staněk’s Feature win there in 2025. Stenshorne finished second ahead of Beganovic, with Tsolov, Dunne and Câmara following. Bilinski took seventh, Goethe the final point in eighth.

Final Classification: F2 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Sprint Race

Championship Standings: F2 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Sprint Race

Tsolov extends his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to twenty-two points after Minì’s retirement.

Campos Racing hold a commanding lead in the Teams’ Championship.

Coffee Corner Take

Both records I flagged going into this weekend are still standing tonight. Tsolov’s hunt for a seventh win and Campos’s chase for a ninth team win both have to wait. Spa’s own Feature Race stat still holds too, four straight years without a qualifying pole winning on Sunday. Saturday added its own footnote to that: Montoya started the Sprint from P1 off the reverse grid and still couldn’t hold it to the flag.

Minì’s retirement in the pitlane did most of the work for Tsolov tonight, turning a seventeen point cushion into twenty-two. Tsolov didn’t need a heroic drive to bank his share of it either, fourth place was enough, quietly taken while the title fight around him did the damage. That’s the sort of afternoon a championship leader takes without complaint.

Duerksen’s win deserves more than a line in the results column. He hasn’t been near the front for most of a season that hasn’t gone the way Invicta wanted it to. Third year running now that this circuit has handed Invicta a Sprint win, and Duerksen found his at exactly the moment he needed it. He had Stenshorne’s rear wing in view for the best part of ten laps and never rushed the move. He bided his time, waiting for the right moment to strike into Les Combes, and once he had the lead he didn’t give the Norwegian so much as a sniff of it back. That’s not the kind of move that happens by accident.

The stewards had a busy race of their own. Two penalties for Miyata. Three lap deletions at Turn 19. A warning for Stenshorne that changed nothing on the road but still went on the sheet.

Sunday is where Tsolov’s record chase gets its answer, on a circuit that has made a habit of not handing the Feature Race to whoever starts up front. He needs one more win to match a mark held by two drivers who went on to win in Formula 1. Campos need two more to catch PREMA outright, and Spa’s Feature Race can only take them to nine. That chase runs beyond this weekend regardless of what happens on Sunday morning.