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Gabriele Minì converted patience and precise communication into victory in the Formula 2 sprint race at the Hungaroring, delivering a result that significantly tightened the championship fight.
The MP Motorsport driver received the decisive message on Lap 9: “Do it when you’re sure to do it.” It was a simple instruction, but one that captured the central challenge of the 28-lap race. Track position was vital around the tight circuit, where drivers could become trapped in DRS trains and risk damaging their tyres by pushing too hard.
Minì had already identified the balance required. “It's really easy to push too much on the tyres and end up losing positions instead of gaining only one or keeping yours,” he said. Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen made the same point from a different angle: “You really have to keep your head on this track and be patient.”
That patience shaped the opening phase. Minì shadowed Sebastián Montoya’s PREMA while championship leader Nikola Tsolov remained close enough to punish any mistake. The top three repeatedly moved in and out of DRS range, but Minì kept his tyres under control and protected his position.
The opportunity arrived heading onto Lap 17. Minì had closed to less than half a second and felt he had the pace, particularly through the final two corners. Montoya defended the inside line into Turn 1, but a front-tyre lock-up compromised his exit and allowed Minì to change direction on the run to Turn 2.
The overtake was clinical rather than reckless — exactly the balance Minì and his engineer had discussed before the start. “It's still very important to try and get the overtake, so you have to balance out the two things,” he explained after the race.
MP Motorsport’s communication was central to that execution. “We keep the communication very simple,” Minì said, adding that avoiding unnecessary complexity helped his mental state as well as his decision-making. Once ahead, he steadily built enough margin to deny Montoya the DRS assistance needed to respond.
The late collision between Montoya and Tsolov amplified the result. Tsolov retired with broken suspension after a Lap 21 lunge, while Minì claimed the fastest-lap point and turned a two-point gain into an 11-point championship swing. He now trails Tsolov by 16 points, with Rafa Câmara 31 points off the lead.
Tsolov’s five-place grid penalty for the Feature Race moves him to 12th, while Minì rises to eighth. After a difficult Spa weekend, Minì is targeting the bigger reward: “I'd rather take full points on Sunday.” The task is harder from further down the order, but his Hungaroring sprint showed that patience can create the opportunity — and precision can finish it.
For more on the weekend’s grid-setting battle, read our report on Kush Maini’s Formula 2 pole at the Hungaroring.
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.