Championship leader, Gabrielle Minì, continues to show remarkable consistency in the 2026 FIA Formula 2 season as he fought his way to second place in the Barcelona Sprint Race.
The Italian driver now sits on 71 points after securing another podium finish. After starting seventh on the reverse grid, Minì showed why he has emerged as an early title contender, making it his fifth podium in the last six races.
Reflecting on another strong performance, Minì was pleased with his progress through the field: “Yeah, it was a very good race, another podium. So, it’s five in the last 6 races, which is very positive.
“Today was really what we needed. I got a good start, some really nice overtakes around the outside of Villagomez and Herta. And then, with just a strong pace, we managed to overtake León.”
Tyre management has become one of the defining factors at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and Minì felt that his performance in the closing stages was due to better tyre management than those battling him.
“We had a good tyre degradation, so we were better than the others. At first, I tried to catch Nicola. I figured it was a bit too early, so I backed out a bit, and then I pushed towards the end to catch him again, and that worked very well. At the end Colton was coming very quick, but we still managed to hold on to P2,” the Italian said.
The latter stages of the race saw the Alpine Academy Driver chasing Nicola Tsolov, with the pair also fighting for the championship lead. However, despite leading the championship, the MP Motorsport driver stated that it is too early to keep it as a priority while racing.
“At the moment, we are there for the championship for sure. But as I said so many times already, I care, but in a way, I’m not looking at that.”
“I mean, for me, it’s two points gained if I would have overtaken him and two points lost if not. So that’s the only thing that was going through my mind.”
Rather than looking at the standings, Minì focused on maximizing his race and believes that P2 was the best result available for the team during the Sprint Race.
“In the end, I feel like P2 was the maximum we could have achieved today. As I’ve said many times, the goal is always to try and achieve the maximum possible.”
“So, I didn’t see him as, ‘OK, it’s for the championship and I need to overtake him to keep the lead’ because there is no point in looking at that so early in the season.”
This podium continues the consistent campaign for Minì, whose only non-scoring finish came during the Monaco Feature Race. With one Feature Race win to his name and another podium added to his tally, Minì heads into Sunday’s race full of confidence.
Lining up third on the grid, the Italian driver believes there might be another opportunity to fight for victory, although finding the balance to keep Barcelona’s tyre degradation will be crucial.
“Starting from P3 and trying to improve a bit from today, the goal is, of course, to try and win.”
“But once again, we will see how the race evolves. Especially in tracks with degradation, it’s important to see what the maximum is during the race. You have to always see the situation around you, how everything is going, and what everyone else is doing.”
“The only thing that we can do for sure, and the goal is to maximize once again, work through the afternoon and night, and then be ready for tomorrow.”
Building his success one race at a time, Minì has placed himself in a position to strengthen his championship lead and strengthen his credentials as one of the contenders for the 2026 Formula 2 title. Formula 2 drivers will battle it out one last time this weekend during the Barcelona Feature Race, set to start at 11:25 local time.
Image Credit – Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty
