Formula 2 Round 3 Preview: The Feeder Series Heads to Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Fresh off a thrilling weekend in Miami, the FIA Formula 2 Championship makes the journey north for another first-ever event — this time at the iconic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. Once again, teams and drivers arrive at a venue they have never raced at in this championship, and if the action from Miami was any indication, Round 3 of the 2026 season promises to be unmissable.

Weekend Schedule

With track time at a premium on an entirely new circuit, every session will carry added weight. Free Practice gets the weekend underway at 10:05 local time on Friday, giving drivers their first and only opportunity to learn the layout before the pressure ramps up significantly.

Saturday brings the Sprint Race, scheduled to begin at 14:10 local time, before Sunday's Feature Race closes out the round at 12:05 and promises the kind of sustained, unpredictable action that has already defined this young season.

The Circuit

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve stretches to 4.361 kilometres, features four DRS zones, and is built on a man-made island — a layout as distinctive as any on the calendar. The venue is perhaps best known in Formula 1 circles for the notorious 'Wall of Champions', situated on the exit of the final corner, which has claimed countless big names across the decades.

For more on what to expect from the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend — including overtaking zones, key corners, and weather considerations — check out our full 2026 Canadian Grand Prix guide.

From the Grid: Alexander Dunne

Rodin Motorsport's Alexander Dunne, one of four drivers to have claimed a podium at each of the opening two rounds alongside Nikola Tsolov, Rafael Câmara, and Laurens van Hoepen, offered a candid assessment of the challenge ahead.

"It looks like quite a cool track, very bumpy and technical — getting the car in the right window will be very important with the limited mileage we have. I think T10 can be a good spot for overtaking; there's a new DRS zone just before it which has been added for this year, which should make things more interesting."

"The general bumpiness and kerb usage needed will be tricky. F2 cars are very stiff so they're not always the most compliant with those sorts of things. Canada is a new venue for us so I am excited for the challenge of mastering a new track."

Technical Director's Preview

FIA Formula 2 Technical Director Pierre-Alain Michot highlighted both the opportunity and the challenge that Montreal presents.

"The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is another new challenge for every team and driver to take on and has historically provided entertaining racing in other categories. The four DRS straights offer plenty of overtaking opportunities, with the braking zone into the final chicane theoretically the best place to make a pass. Montreal has a flowing layout in the first and second sector, before the long run from Turn 11 to Turn 13, where drivers face the heaviest braking zone of the lap."

Tyre Strategy: Pirelli's Take

Pirelli has allocated the Soft and Supersoft compounds for the Montreal round — the two softest options in the range — reflecting the demands of what is described as a "stop-and-go" layout built on the banks of the St Lawrence River, requiring strong braking stability and high traction efficiency.

For Sunday's Feature Race, the theoretically quickest approach should be built around a Soft–Supersoft combination. However, strategy on a street circuit rarely plays out cleanly, and one of the most significant variables in Montreal is the likelihood of neutralisations.

A timely safety car could prove decisive — both for drivers who elect to begin on the Soft tyre and wait for a chance to extend the stint, and for those who gamble on the Supersoft from the start in anticipation of an early intervention. Graining, a well-documented phenomenon at Montreal, and the possibility of wet weather — a regular feature of Canadian race weekends — add further layers of strategic complexity to an already unpredictable equation.

For a deeper dive into how Pirelli is approaching this weekend for the F1 field as well, our Pirelli preview for the Montreal sprint weekend offers valuable additional context on tyre behaviour and compound selection at this venue.