F2 Budapest Feature Race 2026: León’s Maiden Win

Noel León claimed his maiden FIA Formula 2 Feature Race victory in Budapest, the Campos Racing driver rising from second to the net lead when a Virtual Safety Car reshaped the mandatory pit-stop phase. Kush Maini controlled the opening half of the race after covering off Rafael Câmara at the start, but emerged behind León when he finally stopped at the end of Lap 21. Maini claimed the fastest-lap bonus and closed to within 0.887 seconds at the flag, with Câmara completing a podium covered by just 1.376 seconds. Nikola Tsolov finished seventh but remains at the top of the Drivers’ Championship on 167 points, now 20 clear of Gabriele Minì after the MP Motorsport driver could only manage ninth.

Key Points: F2 Budapest Feature Race 2026

• León wins his maiden FIA Formula 2 Feature Race, rising from second to the net lead when a Virtual Safety Car reshuffles the pit stop phase
• Maini controls the opening half of the race before a delayed mandatory stop drops him behind León, then claims the fastest lap bonus while chasing him to within a second
• Câmara completes the podium in third, unable to find a way past Maini or catch León before the flag
• Tsolov finishes seventh but extends his Drivers’ Championship lead to 20 points over Minì, who can only manage ninth
• Villagómez the race’s only retirement, his car recovered from Turn 12 during a brief Virtual Safety Car period
• Stenshorne sets the outright fastest lap of the race but finishes P21, outside the points-paying positions
• FIA Formula 2 breaks for the summer before returning at Monza for Round 10 on September 4-6

Race Recap: F2 Budapest Feature Race 2026

This is how the Feature Race played out, following Saturday’s Sprint Race and CCM’s build-up to the Budapest weekend.

The Start: Maini Covers Off Câmara, León Through to Second

Kush Maini’s start did the job that mattered most, covering off Rafael Câmara to keep the Invicta Racing driver from getting through. It didn’t stop Noel León. The Campos driver found a way past Câmara on the run to Turn 1, dropping the Brazilian to third before the field had completed a lap. Further back at Turn 4, contact between Nikola Tsolov, John Bennett and Martinius Stenshorne left the Rodin Motorsport driver with bent steering and out of the points fight before the race had properly started.

The Alternate Strategy Climbs

Maini pulled clear at the front, 1.7 seconds up by the time DRS was enabled on Lap 3 while León had Câmara for close company behind him. Tsolov, running the alternate strategy on Mediums, forced his way into the top ten with a move on Nico Varrone, and by Lap 8 he was up to ninth having also cleared Sebastián Montoya at the same corner. By Lap 10, Maini was more than four seconds clear of the battle for net second, a fight that stretched down to Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in sixth, the lead car on the alternative strategy. Inthraphuvasak took fifth from Joshua Duerksen into Turn 1 on Lap 14 as the Medium tyre began to show its advantage over the Soft. Gabriele Minì made his mandatory stop from eighth on Lap 15, and Duerksen responded immediately, rejoining fifteenth, just ahead of Minì.

The Virtual Safety Car

León made his mandatory stop from second at the end of Lap 16, just as a Virtual Safety Car was called after Rafael Villagómez stopped at Turn 12. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver’s car was recovered quickly and the VSC withdrawn on Lap 18, with Maini still leading the pack by six seconds having yet to make his own stop.

The Net Lead Swings to León

Laurens van Hoepen pitted from third and rejoined tenth, ten seconds behind León but ahead of Duerksen. León used his fresher tyres to move into eighth past Oliver Goethe at Turn 2 on Lap 20, the same lap Câmara came in for his stop and rejoined six seconds behind León with van Hoepen right on his gearbox. Maini finally made his stop at the end of Lap 21. He rejoined eighth, and with it León moved into the net lead of the race. Inthraphuvasak pitted the following lap and rejoined ahead of Minì, only for the MP Motorsport driver to reclaim the place once his tyres had reached temperature. Maini and Câmara still had Goethe and Emerson Fittipaldi to clear before they could set about chasing León down. Both passed Goethe on Lap 24, and the AIX Racing driver’s stop at the end of that lap released the two chasers into clear air, five seconds behind the new leader.

Maini and Câmara Run Out of Road

Inthraphuvasak had his tyres up to temperature and went around the outside of Turn 1 to retake eighth from Minì. Behind the lead trio, Maini set the fastest lap of the race up to that point to cut his deficit to León to three seconds with ten laps remaining, and it was under two seconds by the start of Lap 28. Tsolov made a move that mattered for the championship fight, clearing Minì on traction out of Turn 13 to take ninth on Lap 30. Duerksen came under sustained pressure from Inthraphuvasak over sixth, holding firm at Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 32, but with five laps to go the top three were separated by just 1.8 seconds and the chasing pair were still closing on León. Inthraphuvasak finally got through on Duerksen at Turn 1 on Lap 34 to take fifth, Dino Beganovic relegated the Invicta driver to seventh a lap later, and Tsolov went around the outside of Turn 5 to take another place from him.

León held on by 0.887 seconds to secure his first Formula 2 Feature Race victory, with Câmara crossing the line only another 0.489 seconds behind Maini in third.

Rest of the Grid: F2 Budapest Feature Race 2026

Van Hoepen crossed the line fourth, Inthraphuvasak fifth after working his way past both Duerksen and Minì in the closing stages. Beganovic came home sixth ahead of Tsolov in seventh, the championship leader’s single-figure haul enough to stay in front of Minì, who finished ninth behind Duerksen in eighth. Bennett rounded out the points in tenth. Villagómez was the race’s only retirement, his car recovered from Turn 12 during the Virtual Safety Car period after he stopped on track.

Classification: F2 Budapest Feature Race 2026

Final provisional classification. Overall fastest lap of the race went to Martinius Stenshorne, a 1:31.415 on Lap 26, though his P21 finish put him outside the positions eligible for the bonus point. That went instead to Kush Maini, whose 1:32.004 on Lap 25 added a bonus point to his second-place finish.

Standings Snapshot: F2 Budapest Feature Race 2026

Drivers’ Championship after Round 9 (Budapest)

Teams’ Championship after Round 9 (Budapest)

FIA Formula 2 breaks for the summer before returning at Monza for Round 10, from September 4-6.

Coffee Corner Take

León’s first Formula 2 Feature Race win took a while to arrive, and it came from a Virtual Safety Car that fell at exactly the right moment for Campos Racing. That doesn’t make it any less earned. He still had to keep Maini and Câmara behind him as the gap dropped below a second by the flag, and he did it.

Maini’s afternoon is the one worth returning to. He controlled the opening half of the race and claimed the fastest-lap bonus on his way back towards León. The VSC and the timing of his stop cost him the win. The pace never did.

Tsolov’s seventh place looks unremarkable next to a maiden win and a hard-fought podium fight, but the championship table tells a different story. Twenty points clear of Minì heading into the summer break, and he got there this weekend without ever really being in the fight up front. That is what a title lead is supposed to look like at this stage of a season.

Câmara’s podium keeps him firmly in the fight, but Tsolov still leaves Budapest with the advantage. He is 22 points behind the championship leader and only two behind Minì, leaving Invicta with ground to recover when the season resumes at Monza.