Maini dominates Barcelona F2 Sprint - Mini beats Tsolov to second
Maini controls Barcelona Sprint as rivals unravel
Maini delivered a commanding Formula 2 Sprint Race victory in Barcelona, converting an early lead into a dominant win as tyre degradation, track-limit penalties and late-race pressure shaped a chaotic contest behind him.
Starting from the front row alongside Noel Leon, Maini made the cleaner launch when the lights went out and immediately seized control. Leon attempted to fight back around the outside into Turn 1, but Maini held firm across the opening lap and never allowed the race to slip from his grasp.
Behind him, the Campos battle quickly intensified. Nikola Tsolov challenged team-mate Leon through Turn 3, backing out before making the decisive move at Turn 1 on Lap 3. That fight gave Maini breathing room, and the ART driver stretched his advantage to 3.5 seconds while the pack behind became increasingly compressed.
The Barcelona weekend had already been shaped by qualifying, with Rafael Câmara securing pole for the Feature Race in a session covered here: Rafael Câmara storms to second straight F2 pole - Invicta locks out Barcelona front row. In the Sprint, however, Câmara was forced to work through traffic after starting lower down the order.
Tyres and penalties reshape the points fight
By Lap 11, Barcelona’s tyre degradation was already visible. Maini’s front-left showed clear graining, briefly allowing Tsolov to close before the leader re-established a gap of more than four seconds. Further back, Colton Herta finally cleared Leon into Turn 1 after a long pursuit, moving into fourth as Leon’s early promise faded.
Câmara, meanwhile, climbed into the points-paying positions and fought Rafael Villagomez for sixth. Their battle helped form a DRS train stretching deep into the field, before Villagomez was handed a five-second penalty for track limits. Roman Bilinski also received a 10-second penalty after repeated track-limit infringements.
Mini wins late podium fight as Herta’s chance disappears
With six laps remaining, Gabriele Minì began to apply serious pressure to Tsolov for second. The championship implications were clear: even a one-place swing mattered in such a tightly framed early-season fight.
Minì attacked on Lap 22 but Tsolov resisted. One lap later, Minì launched a more forceful move into Turn 1, with brief contact between the pair before the Italian emerged ahead. Herta then capitalised almost immediately, passing Tsolov to move into the podium places.
But Herta’s first F2 podium slipped away on the final lap. While chasing Minì through the middle sector, he locked up and ran into the gravel, later calling the error “unacceptable.” The mistake dropped him from third to fifth.
Maini was already gone. He crossed the line 7.2 seconds clear, sealing a dominant victory ahead of Minì and Tsolov after a Sprint defined by pressure, patience and punishment.
Simone Scanu
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.