The Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps is a classic and iconic racing venue not just in Formula 2 but in all of motorsport. It has been the scene of many triumphs and tragedies over the decades and remains a fan and driver favourite to this day. While winning here may not come with the same glitz and glamour of Monaco or the prestige of Silverstone, there is an innate and deeply gratifying satisfaction when one wins at Spa. That was what was at stake last weekend as Formula 2 travelled there for the eighth round of the 2026 campaign.
Nikola Tsolov came into this latest round of Formula 2 as the new Championship Leader. The Bulgarian already has six wins to his name this year with three of those in the last three races held across both Austria and Silverstone. Could he keep this impressive streak alive though or would one of his main title rivals be able to turn the tables on him and switch the momentum in their favour?
From an ever tightening Championship battle to resurgent performances from those further down the order and dramatic crashes across both races, there were many storylines at play in Spa-Francorchamps last weekend.
Here are The Paddock Chronicle’s Key Takeaways from Formula 2 at Spa-Francorchamps.
Nikola Tsolov Remains on Top
The Bulgarian began the weekend with the clear intention of continuing on his dominant run of late. The Campos racing driver topped the sole practice session of the weekend with a time of 1:58.927, 0.199s ahead of Stenshorne. A red flag filled qualifying session wouldn’t go Tsolov’s way though as he had to settle for a lap time that would place him in fourth for Sunday’s Feature Race and seventh for Saturday’s Sprint. The silver lining was that his main championship rival, Gabriele Minì had a shocking session and could only qualify as high as sixteenth.
In the Sprint Race, Tsolov was his usual ruthless self as he waited until the final lap of the race before mugging Montoya going into La Source to take fourth place away from the Colombian. Five valuable championship points came his way as a result.
“But we take days like this, and hopefully we come back stronger for next week in Budapest.” – Nikola Tsolov
This was bolstered further when Tsolov was able to capitalise on a chaotic Feature Race to finish in third place. Leaving Spa-Francorchamps, Tsolov sits twenty-seven points ahead of Gabriele Minì in second place overall. With six rounds remaining this season, this won’t be enough of a lead for Tsolov to rest his laurels on. But his consistency (his hasn’t finished outside of the points for the last nine races) should reassure of him of his capabilities. As it stands, this Championship is Tsolov’s to lose.
Championship Contenders Looming Ever Closer
Rafael Câmara entered the weekend third overall in the Championship. The Brazilian claimed his fourth pole position of the year on Friday, earning himself two precious points in the process. There were fine margins in qualifying too with just 0.039s separating Câmara from Inthraphuvasak in second. Câmara would come close to breaking into the top five in the Sprint but would have to settle for sixth after a final lap shootout following a late safety car.
“So overall, I’m happy, it was a good read for Sunday’s race.” – Rafael Câmara
Whatever Câmara learned on Saturday, he most definitely applied to Sunday. In a Feature Race filled with drama and chaos, the Brazilian was able to stay calm under pressure and took his second win of the season. Not only that but he made it a grand slam and claimed an extra Championship point for setting the fastest lap of the race too. Less than forty points away from Tsolov in the standings and just nine away from Mini, it’s still very possible for Câmara to replicate what his fellow countryman Leonardo Fornaroli achieved in the last two years by winning the Formula 3 and Formula 2 Championships back-to-back.
Maddening Weekend for Minì in Spa-Francorchamps
Gabriele Minì mostly had a weekend to forget in Spa-Francorchamps. The Italian was forced to retire from the Sprint Race on Saturday after his lacklustre qualifying performance that was only good enough for sixteenth place. The Feature Race went much better for the MP Motorsport driver in which he finished in fifth place. But given how supreme Tsolov has been since Monaco, it remains the kind of performance that Minì can ill afford if he wants to remain in Championship contention over the rest of the season. With the next round in Budapest less than a week away, Minì will be hoping for a quick turnaround of fortunes so that he may head into the summer break on a high.
Still, Could Be Worse…
With three podiums to his name so far this season, including two wins, Noel León still has an outside shot at the Championship. This is Formula 2 after all. Initially, Noel León qualified in tenth place for the Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps and thus would have Reverse Pole Position for the Sprint Race. But the Mexican was then disqualified from qualifying and put to the rear of the field for both races. This was because León was the sole cause of a red flag brought out during the session without any external circumstances contributing to it.
Things would go from bad to worse for León on Saturday as he was forced to retire from the race. But the drama wasn’t done yet. Having crossed the line at the end of the Feature Race in seventh, one of the more bizarre twists in Formula 2 history then occurred. During the race, it was alleged that a non-operational person was using a headset with a microphone fitted in the pitlane during the Red Flag period, contravening Article 21.5 and Appendix 5 of the FIA F2 Sporting Regulations. After an investigation, León was disqualified from the race and Campos Racing had twenty-five Championships points removed from their tally. While a devastating end to an already character building weekend for León, the deduction of points has little impact on Campos. They still lead the Team’s Standings by sixty-four points, ahead of Rodin Motorsport in second.
A Rebounding Sprint Race Podium
Having won the opening race of the year in Australia, Joshua Duerksen made his second podium appearance of the year in Spa when he won the Sprint Race after starting from third place on the grid. The Paraguyan stole the lead away from Stenshorne on the eleventh tour of the circuit and despite a number of challenging moments thereafter, retained the lead all the way to the end in what was a measured drive.
Even though he missed out on victory, Stenshorne still had his best result since his Feature Race win in Canada by finishing in second place. Having taken the lead from Montoya on the opening lap, he’d fall no further than second for the duration of the Sprint.
Dino Beganovic finished in third which was his third podium of the season so far. It was a quietly good race for the Swede who has flown under the radar somewhat this season. He was given a five-second penalty after Sunday’s Feature Race though for moving prior to the start. Leaving Spa, he now sits in seventh place overall in the Championship, tied with Kush Maini on points.
A Chaotic but Needed Feature Race
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak became the first Thai driver to finish in the top three in Formula 2 since Alex Albon in 2018 when he finished in second place in Sunday’s Feature Race. This followed an outstanding qualifiying session where he put his car on the front row alongside Câmara.
“It feels really good. It’s been a long time since I’ve had champagne, so really good.” – Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak
Dunne had back-to-back top five finishes in Spa-Francorchamps but is another driver who needs a string of better results if he hopes to keep any Championship chances alive.
Colton Herta can take walk away from Spa-Francorchamps happy as the American had a positive weekend overall. His thirteenth place finish in the Sprint was his best result since his fifth place finish in Barcelona. This was then surpassed when he finished in seventh place in the Feature Race, giving him his first points since Spain.
Teammate Ritomo Miyata finished in eighth which was his first finish in the points since Monaco and Mari Boya came home in ninth for his first trip back into the points paying positions since Canada. Races like this are just what these drivers need after such tough spells in the series.
Penalties Galore
On top of the penalties already mentioned, there were more to be handed out amongst the rest of the grid too.
Thanks to Leon’s disqualification from qualifying, Sebastian Montoya inherited Reverse Pole Position. Montoya made it all the way to the end of the Kemmel Straight on the opening lap of the Sprint before being overtaken by Stenshorne into Les Combes. Duerksen got past him a few laps later and come the end of the Sprint, Montoya would have dropped out of the points entirely and finished in ninth. Following Tsolov’s opportune overtake on him, Dunne went side by side with him as the pair went up Eau Rouge and Radillion and Montoya went wide, haemorrhaging positions as he came back onto the circuit. It’s the latest in a long line of disappointing results this season for Montoya. Sitting on twenty eight points currently, he’s a far cry from the ninety-one he accrued in his rookie season last year.
The Only Way is up for AIX.
Emerson Fittipaldi looked set for a good starting position in Spa. But a ten-place penalty for yellow flag infringements pushed him down to P14 as a starting position for both races. He retained that position in the Sprint Race before DNFing thanks to a crash in the Feature Race. AIX are now twenty points behind PREMA in the Team’s Standings.
Rafael Villagomez and Cian Shields both fell foul to yellow flag infringements during qualifying too and received a five and ten place grid penalty for both races respectively, starting from P15 and P19. Villagomez finished the Sprint in sixteenth while Shields crashed out less than ten laps into the same race. Villagomez bounced back in the Feature Race to finish in sixth while Shields finished down in twelfth. He leaves Spa tied on ten points with Fittipaldi at the very bottom of the Championship standings.
Odds & Ends from Spa-Francorchamps
Oliver Goethe managed to achieve just his third points-scoring result at the Sprint Race in Spa where he finished in eighth. Unfortunately he would then retire from the Feature Race.
Roman Bilinski extended his points streak to six consecutive races when he finished in seventh place in the Sprint Race. However, this did then come to an end when he retired from Sunday’s Feature Race.
Another driver who retired from the Feature Race was Laurens van Hoepen. The Dutch driver had a spectacular crash on the way towards the Brussels hairpin, smashing his car to pieces as he collided with the barriers. Such was the damage that the race was red flagged. Having only scored points twice since Monaco, he’ll be hoping that’s the culmination of his bad luck as Formula 2 heads to Budapest.
Final Thoughts from Spa-Francorchamps
Nikola Tsolov leaves Spa-Francorchamps still in the lead of the Formula 2 Championship. But without a win in either of the races and only one podium from both, his rivals have proven that he’s not invincible. With less than a week before the next round in Budapest, they’ll be desperately wanting to push that advantage home to carve more points away from him and into their own pockets. For Tsolov, Budapest is the closest thing he has to a home race so he’ll be more determined than ever to return to winning ways.
Rodin Motorsport, MP Motorsport and Invicta Racing are separated by just five points in the Team Standings. They’ll all need good weekends and a bit of good luck in Budapest too if any of them want to claw back the gap to Campos who hold all the cards out in front. DAMS Lucas Oil will want to bounce back too after a torrid time in Spa saw fellow French rivals ART on the podium and leave ART ahead of them in the standings.
Eight different drivers have won races so far this season across six of the eleven teams on the grid. In Formula 2, anything is possible and in Budapest, we’re often treated to some truly glorious racing. Let’s see if it can continue some of the left field storylines we saw in Spa and crack both Championships wide open.
Formula 2 returns in Budapest, Hungary on July 24th.
Feature Image: Red Bull Content Pool