Miní sets the pace in opening Melbourne Practice

In the opening session of the 2026 Formula 2 session, it was Gabriele Miní who set the early pace ahead of qualifying.

The Italian changed teams over the winter – from Prema to MP Motorsport – but the switch doesn’t seem to have affected Miní, who set a 1:29.1s lap time to stamp his authority on the Melbourne race weekend. Behind him was the debutant duo of Noel León (Campos Racing) & Rafa Câmara (Invicta Racing) – though both clocked in 0.4s adrift of Miní on their fastest laps.

Elsewhere in the field, it was a positive morning for the Alpine driver academy. Aside from Miní’s fastest time, both Dunne (6th) & Maini (10th) recorded times within the top 10, to make it a hat trick of drivers in the top end of the standings. Dunne recently announced his switch to the French squad’s driver academy, and it seems to have given him a boost ahead of qualifying.

Last year’s sole race winner Joshua Dürksen clocked the 9th fastest time around Albert Park, adapting well to his new Invicta Racing machinery. The Paraguayan driver recently joined the Mercedes Driver Program, ahead of his third Formula Two campaign – and having spent the last two seasons with AIX Racing, he made the jump to Invicta to make a serious championship charge.

For Indycar driver Colton Herta, his introduction to Formula Two didn’t quite go to plan – with his session ending in the barriers within fifteen minutes. Hitech Racing will have to rebuild his car ahead of qualifying, hoping that he can recover from his lack of track time.

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak also found himself involved in an accident, spinning off at Turn 12 late in the session. The Thai driver was setting some competitive laps before the accident, and will also have to fight the clock with his ART Grand Prix team to be ready for qualifying.

The first qualifying session gets underway at 14:55 Melbourne time – GMT +11. Can Gabriele Miní convert his morning pace to pole, or will another driver take the Pole Position (and two points!) ahead of the first races of the season?

Photo by James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

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