Noel León said his Campos Racing car was a “rocket ship” after he achieved his first pole position in Formula 2 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Léon edged out Rodin’s Alexander Dunne by just over a tenth of a second, while his team mate Nikola Tsolov was third fastest.

The Mexican has two Sprint Race wins under his belt but this Friday result could give him the best chance of a first Feature Race win in this series.

¡Viva México! ??

Noel León made history at the Red Bull Ring on Quali day by becoming the first Mexican driver to grab an @aramco Pole Position Award ??#F2 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/pcYsf9dezu

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 26, 2026

The Campos Racing team had shown to be strong all day in Austria, with Free Practice setting both of their drivers in P2 and P4.

How did León feel about his 30 minute session?

“Feels great to be honest. It was a pretty good day for the team, P1 and P3. From Free Practice, we knew that we had a chance for pole and the car was our rocket ship. So thanks to the team,” he said.

León managed to achieve his pole position time earlier on in the session compared to when each of the drivers continued their final push laps as the clocks ticked down.

This strategy was preferred by the Spanish squad and ultimately paid off in the end:

“It was a lot of pressure because I was alone,” the 21-year-old explained. “The strategy that my engineer chose was quite good to be honest but always risky because we didn’t have a single car on track so no tow, but we knew that we had the pace so we chose ourselves, and we delivered.”

"WOO!" ?

That moment when Noel León realised he had done enough to take his first @Aramco Pole Position Award ??#F2 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/WnatAyteHa

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 26, 2026

Drivers prepare for high temperatures

It was declared on Thursday that the Austrian Grand Prix will be a heat hazard as rising temperatures soar across the European continent, meaning that tyre degradation poses an extreme risk during both races.

This risk didn’t seem to bother the Mexican today as he explained how the tyres felt for him: “The super soft was quite good, even two laps. When I saw that on the first push, they didn’t improve my lap time, I was worried about the second push because on the first set, I improved a bit so it was not nice to be watching the others lap times.”

León currently sits fifth in the championship behind his teammate, and will start tomorrow from 10th as per reverse grid guidelines but will need to gain two positions to claim any points.

Formula 2 will continue with the Sprint Race at 13:15 local time on Saturday the 27th of June and the Feature Race at 9:10 local time on Sunday the 28th of June.

Provisional Quali classification from Spielberg ?#F2 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/nXpIHLu3hd

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 26, 2026

Image Credit – Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty