The championship lead was cut to 20 points during the Budapest weekend, as Nikola Tsolov heads on his summer holiday just about in charge of the title race.
Who were this weekends winners and losers?
Winner: Noel Léon
After a weekend in Spa littered with penalties, the Mexican bounced back tremendously with Feature Race victory.
There was a bit of fortune with the timing of the virtual safety car coming out whilst he was in the pit lane, but he still had to deliver the pace to ensure he was ahead when Maini and Camara pitted, and then hold them off too.
It’s also a welcome return to form for the 21-year-old, who had scored just 15 points in the last seven races, after some strong early season form saw him win two Sprint Races.
The smile says it all ?#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/wZj3oJvyYs
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 26, 2026
Loser: Nikola Tsolov
Tsolov’s championship lead has been trimmed, and it could easily have been whittled down by more. His ill-judged lunge on Sebastian Montoya in Saturday’s Sprint Race saw him retire and earn himself a five-place grid drop for Sunday.
He did recover to seventh in the Feature Race, but without the penalty, he could have challenged for a podium. He is fortunate that Mini was only able to pick up ninth on Sunday.
Nikola Tsolov ? Sebastian Montoya
The incident that led to the Bulgarian Lion's grid penalty for the Feature ?#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/EBLix4wf5K
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 25, 2026
Winner: Rafael Câmara
The championship momentum appears to be with the Brazilian as we head to the summer break. A Feature Race win in Spa and the podium in Hungary has brought him to 22-points off the summit and he will be full of confidence when F2 returns in Monza.
Invicta are known for finishing seasons strongly and they will believe they can keep giving the reigning F3 champion the car to go back-to-back.
Winner: Gabriele Mini
A mixed weekend for Mini but ultimately a positive one. The much-needed Sprint Race win outweighs the lowly points result of the Feature, mostly because it capitalised on a day where Tsolov made an error and dropped significant points.
Qualifying performances will need to improve for the Italian, so he is challenging for the big points on Sunday’s but this weekend saw the championship lead cut, and that is always a positive.
On the hunt ?
The moment @MiniGabriele reminded the world that he isn't going to give up in the championship fight ?#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/PZ8BhJK0Ha
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 25, 2026
Loser: Alex Dunne
A suspension failure in Qualifying on Friday scuppered the Irishman’s chances this weekend and result in his first non-scoring round.What had seemed to be a growing title bid has slumped in recent rounds, and Dunne could well be too far adrift to threaten the top three now.
Winner: Laurens Van Hoepen
Welcome back to form Laurens Van Hoepen! After a tricky run of races, which had seen him score just 14 points since taking pole position in Canada, the Dutch driver bounced back from his hefty crash in Spa with strong weekend in Hungary.
Third in the Sprint and fourth in the Feature is a sign that the 20-year-old is getting back to his best.
If he can continue this form, it would be a surprise if he ends the season winless.
Loser: Sebastian Montoya
Another weekend where a decent Qualifying has failed to materialise the result it probably deserved.
Montoya led well for much of the Sprint Race and eventually conceded the lead to Mini, but he looked good for second place.
That was until Tsolov went for that lunge and eliminated them both from the race.
And on Sunday, the PREMA driver went backwards, and eventually finished behind his team mate who’d started last.
Certainly a weekend to forget for the Colombian.
Winner: Kush Maini
Was this Maini’s strongest weekend in F2? He looked great in Qualifying and snatched pole without recording a fastest sector across his lap, before a reasonable Sprint, although he may feel more could have been achieved if ART had ordered him past team mate Inthraphuvasak early on.
On Sunday, he did everything right to win the race, but sometimes luck is against you and it shone on Léon instead.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the win, the Indian should be encouraged by this performance heading into the final rounds of the year.
Kush Maini storms to the top of the times with a 1:28.896! ?
That could be hard to beat! ?#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/QWb7a36JFB
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 24, 2026
Image Credit – Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty
