Rafael Câmara took his second consecutive FIA Formula 2 pole position ahead of the Barcelona Grand Prix weekend, as his Invicta team locked out the front row.
The Brazilian beat his Invicta Racing teammate, Joshua Durksen, by 0.135s, with Alex Dunne of Rodin Motorsport in third.
It’s the Ferrari Academy Drivers’ second pole in a week, after he took top spot in Monaco – although he retired from the Feature Race despite leading the majority of it.
Câmara set pole position with his only lap of the session, as his second effort was abandoned thanks to a red flag caused by Hitech’s Ritomo Miyata.
A pose we've seen before ??
Another @aramco Pole Position Award for Rafael Câmara ?#F2 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/B0R1phYjx0
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 12, 2026
Championship leader, Gabrielle Minì was fourth fastest, while Miyata’s Hitech team mate, Colton Herta, achieved his career best Qualifying result with eighth.
Home favourites, Campos, who won both races in Monaco, saw their drivers Nikola Tsolov and Noel Léon end the session sixth and 10th – with the Mexican primed to extend his winning run on Saturday’s as he will take reverse-grid pole for the Sprint Race.
He’ll be joined on the front row by Kush Maini’s ART, after the Indian was ninth quickest.
Van Amersfoort Racing also enjoyed a positive session, with Mexico’s Rafael Villagomez fifth and his Argentine team mate, Nico Varrone, seventh.
Rafael Câmara led an @InvictaRacing 1-2 in Quali ?
Here's the provisional classification after the 30-minute session ?#F2 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/zqGq4bWjRZ
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 12, 2026
How the session unfolded
MP Motorsport’s Minì, put in a good Qualifying lap in the first five minutes but was shockingly overtaken by Hitech’s Colton Herta with a 1:25.387, who did not have a good session in Practice.
The American also drove the Cadillac Formula One car in Free Practice 1, ending his first F1 experience in 21st.
Tsolov managed to challenge this time by beating him in all sectors by a couple of hundredths, ending his fast lap 0.165 quicker than Herta.
However it was Câmara that took this pole position time with a 1:24.810 and nearly half a second slower than the F2 lap record for this circuit, which was set by Oliver Bearman for PREMA in 2023.
With seven minutes left, Alex Dunne and Cian Shields were yet to produce a time, the Irish driver having had his first lap deleted for exceeding track limits.
This put both drivers in danger of the red flag about to happen. Although Shields only took 21st, the Rodin driver produced a clean lap to land himself in third.
Joshua Duerksen makes it an @InvictaRacing 1-2 ?
The Paraguayan sets a 1:24.945 ?#F2 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/hpB4kvQsaM
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 12, 2026
Ritomo Miyata brought out the red flag as he came off at the final corner, landing in the barrier with 3 minutes and 41 seconds left of the 30 minute session.
Câmara was set to improve upon his pole position, delivering fastest sector times, while Tsolov in sixth, and Trident’s Laurens Van Hoepen were also going faster. Both had to abandon their laps due to the stoppage
The red flag wrecked Van Hoepen’s chances, as it left him 14th fastest, having topped practice earlier in the day.
Qualifying resumed at 16:30 local time. The two DAMS Lucas Oil drivers were some of the first to head out with one opportunity to produce a Qualifying lap. Dino Beganovic landed 12th with Roman Bilinski in 17th. Oliver Goethe also only managed to raise his time to start 15th over the weekend.
Câmara watched from the pit lane as he gained pole position and decided his time was enough to start on a front foot for the Sprint and Feature race.
Formula 2 continues with the Sprint Race at 14:15 local time on Saturday the 13th of June, and the Feature Race at 11:25 local time on Sunday the 14th of June.
Image credit – Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty
