Formula 2 at Monza returned from the summer break with far more than another high speed weekend. Joshua Dürksen swept both races, Rafael Câmara reignited his title charge, and Gabriele Minì left his home round empty handed. Nikola Tsolov still leads, but the margin suddenly looks far less comfortable.
Monza also exposed several wider trends. Invicta finally turned raw pace into a complete weekend, while Noel León extended a genuine run of form. Alexander Dunne again showed speed without the result his pace suggested. The title picture now feels sharper with only a handful of rounds remaining.
Friday belonged to speed, traffic and Invicta
Alexander Dunne opened the weekend with a statement. The Rodin driver topped Practice in 1:31.957, ahead of Oliver Goethe and Nico Varrone. His session ended early, though, after Colton Herta crashed at Turn 7. The red flag appeared with 17 minutes remaining and running never resumed.
That left teams with less preparation than planned before Qualifying. Dunne still carried his pace into the afternoon, but Invicta found another level. Rafael Câmara took pole with a 1:31.326, beating Joshua Dürksen by less than a tenth. Dunne completed the top three.
The real story sat behind them. Formula 2 at Monza once again turned Qualifying into a battle for slipstream and track position. Drivers slowed heavily while preparing their final laps, creating queues and several investigations. Seven drivers received grid penalties after the session.
Minì suffered most among the title contenders. He qualified only 11th, then received a three place penalty for impeding Cian Shields. Tsolov qualified sixth but also earned a three place penalty for erratic weaving near Sebastián Montoya. A Friday that began with three drivers separated by 22 points suddenly gave Câmara the clearest route forward.
Dürksen turns seventh into Saturday victory
Saturday changed the tone of Dürksen’s season in less than an hour. He started seventh after the penalties reshuffled the reverse grid. By the end of the opening lap, he had already climbed to fourth.
John Bennett initially controlled the Sprint from pole. Dürksen kept moving, passed Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak for second on Lap 5, then hunted down the Trident. The decisive move came at Turn 1 on Lap 9. DRS gave Dürksen the opening, and he never handed the lead back.
Chaos behind him helped shape the championship story. Nico Varrone spun Câmara after contact, leaving the Feature Race polesitter stranded and out of the points. Tsolov and Dunne also lost ground during their own fight, while León continued moving forward.
A late Safety Car erased Dürksen’s advantage after Roman Bilinski spun at Ascari. Even that did not shake him. He nailed the restart and escaped DRS range immediately. Bennett finished second in his 50th start, with Goethe third. León took fourth and Tsolov salvaged fifth.
The win mattered beyond ten points. Dürksen had struggled to assemble complete weekends earlier in 2026. Invicta team principal James Robinson later said small mistakes had cost him heavily before Monza. Saturday looked like the first sign that those loose ends were finally disappearing.
Sunday makes the comeback complete
The Feature Race turned a strong Saturday into Dürksen’s best weekend of the season. Starting alongside Câmara on the front row, he attacked immediately. Câmara missed the first chicane, allowing his teammate to take the lead.
Their fight quickly became tactical. Câmara retook first on Lap 4, Dürksen answered one lap later, then Câmara moved ahead again on Lap 6. Invicta allowed the battle to breathe without letting it become destructive.
Dürksen then made the key call. He stopped at the end of Lap 6 and attacked his out lap. Câmara waited until Lap 8. When the Brazilian emerged, Dürksen had gained the track position that ultimately decided the race. Robinson later praised the early stop as an aggressive decision that Dürksen executed perfectly.
A Safety Car for Herta compressed the field midway through the race. Dunne attacked Câmara at the restart but locked up and fell behind León. Dürksen escaped beyond one second, yet Câmara reeled him back in during the closing laps.
Only 0.424 seconds separated the Invicta cars at the flag. Dürksen won, Câmara finished second, and León completed the podium. The victory gave Dürksen his eighth Formula 2 win and completed a clean Monza sweep.
For a driver who had struggled through the middle phase of the season, it was a huge reversal. Dürksen called Monza one of his best weekends and targeted more victories before the year ends.
Câmara leaves as Tsolov’s closest threat
For the championship, Formula 2 at Monza belonged almost as much to Câmara as it did to Dürksen. He arrived third on 145 points, 22 behind Tsolov. Pole position and second place on Sunday moved him to 166.
That surge matters because Câmara has been building momentum for several rounds. His Spa weekend produced a Feature Race victory, while Budapest kept him firmly in the championship conversation. He arrived at Monza only two points behind Minì.
Friday then gave him exactly what he needed. Pole offered two valuable championship points and put him at the front for Sunday. The Sprint retirement hurt, but his Feature Race response limited the damage immediately.
Tsolov did what title leaders often need to do when they are not the fastest. Fifth in the Sprint and seventh in the Feature gave him ten points across the weekend. He leaves Italy on 177, still ahead, but now only 11 points clear of Câmara.
That is the key shift. Tsolov did not collapse in Monza. Instead, Câmara simply made a much bigger gain.
Monza also showed Formula 2’s next step
The weekend carried one major story away from the championship fight. Formula 2 unveiled its car for the 2027 to 2029 cycle at Monza. The new package keeps some existing architecture but introduces major aerodynamic changes.
FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis said the car will produce more downforce and better support close following. An onboard starter motor will also reduce interruptions caused by stalled cars. The series plans to deliver the first cars to teams near the end of 2026.
The reveal carried symbolic weight. Monza was showing two generations of Formula 2 at once. One grid fought through a tightening 2026 title battle while the championship revealed the machine its successors will inherit.
A championship reset before Madrid
Formula 2 at Monza produced one obvious winner and several quieter losers. Dürksen finally joined every part of a weekend together. Câmara turned pace into a serious title gain. Minì lost ground at the worst possible venue, while Dunne again left points on the table despite front running speed.
Invicta may have made the biggest collective statement. The team locked out the front row, won both races through Dürksen, and finished first and second on Sunday. That performance cut its deficit to Campos in the Teams’ Championship to 47 points.
Tsolov still owns the championship lead on 177 points. Câmara now sits 11 behind, with Minì 30 back. León continues to rise, while Dürksen leaves Monza with renewed momentum after climbing to eighth in the standings.
Nothing was decided in Italy. The pressure simply became much harder to ignore.
Formula 2 will return in Madrid from September 11 to 13, with the new Madring circuit hosting the next round of the 2026 season.
Feature Image Credits: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team