Duerksen wins F2 Sprint Race in Melbourne, Minì shines with big comeback

The first race of the 2026 Formula 2 season took place in Melbourne with the Sprint Race at Albert Park. Joshua Duerksen took the victory for Invicta Racing after a strong and controlled race. The Paraguayan driver started on the front row and quickly passed pole sitter Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in the early laps. From there he managed the race well, including the restart after a Safety Car caused by Mari Boya’s crash, and brought home the first win of the season.
Behind him Noel León finished second for Campos Racing, while Alexander Dunne completed the podium for Rodin Motorsport. The performance of the race however came from Gabriele Minì. Starting from the back of the grid after problems in qualifying, the Italian produced an impressive comeback through the field and finished sixth after gaining fifteen positions. For many fans it is also important to remember that this was the Sprint Race, not the main race of the weekend.
In Formula 2 the grid for the Sprint is formed by reversing the top ten from qualifying. This means that the pole sitter starts tenth. That is why Dino Beganovic, who took pole position in Friday’s qualifying, did not start at the front today. The Swedish Ferrari junior had a difficult race and after an unscheduled pit stop finished twentieth. The good news for Swedish fans is that the Feature Race on Sunday uses the normal qualifying order, meaning Beganovic will start from pole position.
One of the most talked about debuts this weekend is Colton Herta. The American driver, well known from IndyCar, moved to Formula 2 this year hoping to reach Formula 1. His first race in the category however was below expectations, finishing only 16th.

1. Joshua Duerksen (Invicta)
2. Noel León (Campos)
3. Alexander Dunne (Rodin)
4. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (ART GP)
5. Ritomo Miyata (Hitech)
6. Gabriele Minì (MP Motorsport)
7. Laurens van Hoepen (Trident)
8. Roman Bilinski (DAMS)
9. Sebastian Montoya (Prema)
10. Martinius Stenshorne (Rodin)
11. Rafael Câmara (Invicta)
12. Kush Maini (ART GP)
13. Rafael Villagómez (VAR)
14. Emerson Fittipaldi (AIX)
15. John Bennett (Trident)
16. Colton Herta (Hitech)
17. Nikola Tsolov (Campos)
18. Oliver Goethe (MP Motorsport)
19. Cian Shields (AIX)
20. Dino Beganovic (DAMS)
21. Nicolás Varrone (VAR)
DNF Mari Boya (Prema)

Written by: Marco Rimola