Noel León declared his first Feature Race win as the best way to go into the summer break, after his triumph in Hungary.
It’s the Mexican’s third win of the season, after also winning Sprint Races in Canada and Monaco earlier this year.
The Campos driver made the most of a brilliantly timed Virtual Safety Car which gave him some extra time to exit the pits and get ahead of race leader, Kush Maini
A first Feature Race win is a considerable milestone in Formula 2 so what does the Campos Racing driver think about his success?
The 21-year-old said: “It feels great to be honest. Today we had a really good race, we got a bit lucky with the Virtual Safety Car on our pit stop.
“But it’s been a good weekend and to be honest I’m very happy to bounce back like this after a tough weekend in Spa. Best way to go into the summer.”
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed due to Rafael Villagómez stopping on the side of the track. Under regulation, cars are not allowed to enter the pits under a VSC but as León was in the pit lane when this was called, no investigation was necessary.
The VSC came at the perfect time for Noel León ?
This allowed the Mexican driver to gain time on those who had yet to pit, eventually coming out ahead of Kush Maini and into the net race lead ?#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/6o7bl33Ibv
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 26, 2026
A lap later or earlier and he may not have been so lucky in his team’s strategy. But it was the team that wanted him to come in at this point, whereas the Mexican revealed he would have liked to have entered sooner:
“In that moment, I was just driving around. From Lap 6 to Lap 10, I was screaming on the radio to box and my engineer told me to shut up and drive.
“So from that lap onwards, I started to only drive and left him to decide when to stop.
“The soft tyre today was quite impressive, I didn’t expect to drive that long on a soft tyre so it was a good call, we got lucky today,” he explained.
P1 for Palíndromo ?
Vamos, Noel! ??#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/eZaDxCf2jA
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 26, 2026
As a rookie this season in 2026, this is León’s fourth podium along with a second place finish on debut at the Australian Grand Prix. After a retirement and disqualification after the Belgian Grand prix weekend, he now sits fifth in the overall championship standings.
But a win after some difficult days should feel good going into the summer break.
“Yes perfect timing. It’s even better to win in the Feature Race now in Budapest when we come to holidays after working hard for months.”
There are only five races left to go in the F2 season, with the Lusail and Yas Marina rounds still uncertain due to the conflict in the Middle East. These next races will be all to play for.
Although maybe too far for León to reach, it’s no doubt that his rookie season has shown good promise.
Formula 2 now heads into its summer break, before returning again in Monza on the 4th to the 6th of September.
Noel León. FIA Formula 2 Feature Race winner ??
The Mexican claimed his third victory of the season with a great drive. Vamos! ???#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/Y1edwmD1vs
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 26, 2026
Image Credit – Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty
