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The FIA Formula 2 title fight took another turn in Budapest, with Nikola Tsolov enduring a difficult weekend while his closest rivals converted their opportunities. The result is a more compressed battle at the top of the standings heading into the summer break.
Gabriele Minì’s ninth-place qualifying result placed greater importance on his Sprint Race from the front row. The MP Motorsport driver could not take control immediately, but patience proved decisive. Sebastián Montoya pushed hard during the opening stint, trying to escape the DRS range, yet Minì’s tyre performance improved as the race developed.
When the opportunity arrived, the Alpine Academy driver forced a lock-up from the PREMA Racing car and moved into the lead. From there, he controlled the race before Tsolov’s contact with Montoya eliminated both drivers. The victory was a precise response to a compromised qualifying result and strengthened Minì’s position in the championship battle.
Rafael Câmara also made ground. Starting second on Sunday, the Invicta driver lost out to Noel León during the pit-stop phase after a Virtual Safety Car arrived at the ideal moment for the Campos driver. Câmara nevertheless secured third, while Tsolov recovered to seventh and added important points.
That left Alexander Dunne, fourth in the championship, further adrift. An issue outside his control in qualifying dropped the Rodin Motorsport driver into a difficult position at a circuit where overtaking is extremely challenging. He fought back to 11th in the Feature Race but missed out on points. Dunne now trails Câmara by 37 points and Tsolov by 59.
Campos Racing continued its remarkable run by adding another Feature Race win to its 2026 tally. León’s victory was the Spanish team’s ninth of the season, just one short of PREMA Racing’s record of 10 wins in a single Formula 2 campaign.
For León, the result carried particular weight after his Spa comeback ended in disqualification for a Sporting Regulations infringement. His emotional reaction after the Budapest race reflected the significance of finally converting his pace and effort into a result. With 10 races remaining, Campos has a clear opportunity to establish a new benchmark.
Laurens van Hoepen delivered one of the weekend’s sharpest recoveries. After ending the Spa weekend in the barriers, the Trident driver repaid his mechanics’ rebuild effort with third in the Sprint Race and fourth in the Feature event. John Bennett also returned to the points on Sunday for the first time since his Spielberg Sprint victory.
Trident goes into the break seventh in the Teams’ Standings on 83 points. Its current target is to surpass the team’s 2022 total of 108 points and improve on its ninth-place championship finish. For more junior-category perspective, see our key takeaways from Formula 3’s Hungaroring weekend.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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