2026 FIA Formula 2 Montreal Sprint Race Round-Up: León Wins Chaotic Canadian Sprint

Noel León took his maiden FIA Formula 2 victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, controlling a chaotic Montreal Sprint Race across 28 laps to win by 3.7 seconds. The Campos Racing driver fought back from early pressure by Joshua Duerksen, survived two safety cars and a late VSC, and held his nerve on the final restart to take a composed victory. Gabriele Minì finished second for MP Motorsport to extend his championship lead. Martinius Stenshorne completed the podium for Rodin Motorsport. Nikola Tsolov, handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Stenshorne, drops to fourteenth in the final classification and falls further back, with multiple drivers still in contention heading into Sunday’s Feature Race.

Key Points: F2 Montreal Sprint Race 2026

• León wins his maiden F2 victory for Campos Racing. Minì second, Stenshorne third
• Minì takes the championship lead on 42 points, six clear of Câmara in second. Tsolov drops to third on 35
• Tsolov handed a 10-second time penalty for contact with Stenshorne that triggered the first safety car. Finishes fourteenth
• Duerksen DNF after contact from Dunne at Turn 10. Dunne handed a 10-second time penalty. Duerksen receives a three-place grid drop for a separate start incident to carry forward
• Boya handed a post-race 10-second penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly at Turn 10, triggering a chain collision involving Varrone, Shields and Montoya. Remains fifteenth
• León secured the fastest lap point. Dunne set the overall fastest lap before his penalty

Race Recap: F2 Montreal Sprint Race 2026

The Start: Minì Holds, León Moves

Minì got away cleanly from pole and held the lead into Turn 1. León slotted into second. Duerksen, starting fifth, had a strong launch and made contact with León at Turn 2. The Invicta driver forced his way through into third at Turn 3 and was later handed a five-second time penalty for the contact. Câmara had wheelspin off the line and lost ground in the opening exchanges.

Early Laps: León and Duerksen Trade Places

León used DRS to pressure Duerksen into the final chicane on Lap 3. Duerksen cut across the chicane to hold the position. León took it back at the exit. On Lap 4 Duerksen responded with a DRS pass of his own into the final corners. The pair traded places repeatedly while Minì edged clear at the front. Tsolov was working through the midfield, taking seventh from Varrone at Turn 10 on Lap 6. León set up a switchback at the final corner on Lap 8 and moved back ahead of Duerksen across the line to settle into second.

First Safety Car: Tsolov Penalised, Bennett Out

Tsolov made a late dive at Turn 10 on Lap 12, made contact with Stenshorne and sent the Rodin driver into Bennett. Bennett was left stationary on track. Safety car deployed. Tsolov was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision. Bennett did not return.

The safety car withdrew at the end of Lap 14. Minì left the restart late, but León stayed close enough to force Minì defensive into Turn 1. Minì held the lead. Behind them Villagómez made an opportunistic move on Duerksen at Turn 10 for third but went across the chicane and handed the place back on Lap 16. Stenshorne followed immediately, diving inside Duerksen at Turn 10 to take fourth before the lap was complete.

Second Safety Car: Duerksen Out, Dunne Penalised

Tsolov passed Duerksen into Turn 10 on Lap 17 to take fifth. Then on Lap 18 León made the decisive move. He attacked Minì through the final corners and emerged with the race lead.

Behind them, Dunne pitched Duerksen into a spin at Turn 10. Duerksen was stranded. Safety car out for the second time. Dunne was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

Racing resumed on Lap 22. León bolted at the final chicane to build a buffer. Dunne, informed of his penalty over the radio on the first lap back under racing conditions, passed Tsolov at Turn 5 on the road. Stenshorne went side by side with Villagómez into Turn 1 on Lap 24 but ran wide at Turn 2 and lost a position to Dunne in the process. Villagómez tagged the wall at Turn 4 shortly after with race-ending damage. VSC deployed to clear the car and debris. Withdrawn on Lap 27 with León’s lead at nearly four seconds.

Final Lap: León Holds, Dunne Penalty Promotes Minì

León was untouchable. He crossed the line 3.7 seconds clear of Dunne on the road, but Dunne’s 10-second penalty for the Duerksen collision dropped him out of the points and promoted Minì to second. Stenshorne completed the podium in third. Van Hoepen fourth, Fittipaldi fifth, Beganovic sixth, Câmara seventh, Bilinski eighth.

Tsolov, serving his 10-second penalty for the Bennett collision, finished fourteenth. His championship lead is gone.

Sprint Race Result: F2 Montreal Sprint Race 2026

León won from Minì by 3.7 seconds. Stenshorne, van Hoepen, Fittipaldi, Beganovic, Câmara and Bilinski completed the points. Herta ninth, Goethe tenth. Dunne crossed thirteenth on the road but is excluded from the points after his 10-second penalty. Tsolov finished fourteenth after his penalty for the Bennett collision. Boya fifteenth, a post-race 10-second penalty applied for driving unnecessarily slowly at Turn 10, which triggered a chain collision involving Varrone, Shields and Montoya. Varrone sixteenth, Montoya seventeenth. DNFs: Villagómez, Shields, Duerksen, Bennett. Duerksen carries a three-place grid drop to the next round for his start incident.

Championship Standings After Montreal Sprint

Drivers

Minì leads on 42 points. Câmara second on 36. Tsolov third on 35. León fourth on 32. Van Hoepen fifth on 31. Beganovic sixth on 24. Miyata seventh on 22. Duerksen eighth on 16. Inthraphuvasak ninth on 13. Dunne, Goethe and Maini joint tenth on 12.

Teams

Campos Racing lead on 67 points. MP Motorsport second on 54. Invicta Racing third on 52. Hitech fourth on 32. TRIDENT fifth on 31.

Coffee Corner Take

León did not just win. He managed the race at every stage it asked him to. Early pressure from Duerksen, two safety car restarts, a VSC in the closing laps, and a final four-second margin that never looked under serious threat once the last neutralisation cleared. First win in F2. It came at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the first Formula 2 race ever held in Canada.

Minì is now leading the championship. He did not need to win today to achieve that. He needed Tsolov to keep collecting penalties, and the Bulgarian has obliged across two consecutive race weekends. A Lap 1 retirement in Miami. A Turn 10 collision in Montreal that cost him points and dropped him to third in the standings. Tsolov has the pace. The discipline is the problem, and it is costing him in a championship that was his to control.

Stenshorne was the one who paid for Tsolov’s Montreal moment. Sent into Bennett through no fault of his own, he regrouped, fought back through the field and landed a podium. Rodin have something with that car and Stenshorne is using it. The podium mattered. The recovery drive probably mattered more.

Câmara is second in the championship on 36 points and the Feature Race is still to come. He was quiet in the sprint, seventh after the penalties shook out, but quiet in a sprint that had half the field involved in stewards decisions is not the worst position to be in. He needs a clean Feature Race and he is capable of it.

Duerksen’s afternoon was undone at Turn 10 twice. Once at the start when his own aggression cost him a five-second penalty, and once by Dunne’s hit that ended his race entirely. The three-place grid drop carries forward. Montreal has gone badly for him from start to finish. The pace mid-race suggested he belongs near the front. The results column does not reflect that yet.

The Feature Race is next. Minì leads, Tsolov is under pressure, and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has already shown it will not let anyone have an easy afternoon.