Ritomo Miyata makes Formula 2 history with Madring sprint victory
Ritomo Miyata wrote the first Formula 2 chapter at Madrid’s Madring circuit by winning the inaugural 23-lap sprint race. The Hitech driver made the decisive move at the start, passing AIX Racing’s Emerson Fittipaldi Jr as the field reached Turn 1, and then controlled the race through two safety-car interruptions.
Fittipaldi Jr held second at the finish, while Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen completed the podium after applying late pressure on the AIX driver. Campos’ Noel León crossed the line fourth, ahead of Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne and Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara. Alex Dunne was seventh, with PREMA’s Mari Boya taking the final point in eighth at his home event.
Boya’s result was built on a strong opening lap on the soft tyres and a strategy different from that used by most of the field. MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì finished ninth, while Sunday’s pole-sitter Dino Beganovic was 10th.
Chaos shapes the race
The sprint started 10 minutes late after barriers required repairs following Ollie Bearman’s Formula 1 practice crash. Hitech’s Colton Herta then withdrew before the start after the team worked on his car during a restricted period, breaching Article 21.6a of the FIA Formula 2 regulations. Herta had been due to start 12th; the full report on his withdrawal details the regulation breach.
Once racing began, the combination of the Madring’s tight confines and contrasting soft- and hard-tyre strategies produced immediate action. John Bennett and Sebastián Montoya made contact at Turn 1, before Kush Maini hit Nico Varrone at Turn 8. Varrone was sent into the barriers, bringing out the first safety car. Maini retired with front-wing damage, while Bennett and Montoya eventually rejoined two laps down.
Van Hoepen’s fight with León was another defining sequence. After Van Hoepen passed at Turn 5 and forced León off track, León reclaimed third at Turn 8 before returning the position following a steward’s note about gaining a lasting advantage.
Clinical finish
A second safety car followed Nikola Tsolov’s Turn 20 spin after his left-rear tyre struck the inside barrier. The restart on Lap 17 left six racing laps, but Miyata immediately established a gap of more than one second to keep Fittipaldi Jr outside DRS range.
Van Hoepen threatened Fittipaldi Jr on the soft tyres, yet the AIX driver resisted. Miyata remained untroubled, securing Hitech’s first win of the season and the first Formula 2 victory of his career.
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.