2026 Formula 2 Championship

The 2026 FIA Formula 2 Championship is a motor racing championship for Formula 2 cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship is the sixtieth season of Formula 2 racing and the tenth season run under the FIA Formula 2 Championship moniker. Formula 2 is an open-wheel racing category serving as the second tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The category is run in support of selected rounds of the 2026 Formula One World Championship. As the championship is a spec series, all teams and drivers competing in the championship run the same car, the Dallara F2 2024.

Invicta Racing entered the championship as the reigning Teams' Champions, having secured their title at the final race of the previous season in Abu Dhabi.

The following teams and drivers are contracted to compete in the 2026 Formula 2 Championship. As the championship is a spec series, all teams compete with an identical Dallara F2 2024 chassis using a V6 turbo engine developed by Mecachrome.^[1] All teams compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli.^[2]

Reigning teams' champions Invicta Racing have an all-new driver lineup as reigning drivers' champion Leonardo Fornaroli joined the McLaren F1 Team as a reserve driver and Roman Staněk left Formula 2 to join Kondo Racing's Buzz MK Racing offshoot in Super Formula.^[4][5] Invicta signed 2025 FIA Formula 3 Champion and Ferrari Driver Academy driver Rafael Câmara from Trident, and Joshua Dürksen, who left AIX Racing after finishing the 2025 campaign ninth to join the team for his third season in the championship.^[6][7]

Hitech saw Dino Beganovic move to DAMS Lucas Oil and Luke Browning leave the series to compete in Super Formula with Kondo Racing.^[8][9] They signed Cadillac F1 test driver Colton Herta for his Formula 2 debut. He moved over from the IndyCar Series, where he won nine races over eight years and ended the 2025 season in seventh driving for Andretti Global.^[10] The team also signed former Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata, who embarks on his third F2 campaign after coming 17th with ART Grand Prix in 2025.^[11]

Campos Racing saw Pepe Martí graduate to Formula E with Cupra Kiro ahead of the penultimate round of the 2025 season, and Arvid Lindblad graduate to Formula One with Racing Bulls.^[12][13] 2025 FIA F3 runner-up and Red Bull Junior Team driver Nikola Tsolov, who already replaced Martí for the final two rounds of the 2025 season, stayed with Campos for his full-season graduation.^[14] He was joined by Noel León, who also stepped up from FIA F3 after finishing the 2025 season in 17th driving for Prema Racing.^[15]

DAMS Lucas Oil have a new lineup as Kush Maini moved to ART Grand Prix and Jak Crawford left the series to join the Aston Martin F1 Team as their third driver.^[16] Ferrari Driver Academy member Dino Beganovic returned to the team where he made his F2 debut in 2024 as he departed Hitech, with whom he finished seventh in 2025, and Roman Bilinski made his series debut after finishing eleventh in FIA F3 with Rodin Motorsport.^[8][17]

Richard Verschoor left MP Motorsport after spending five seasons in the category to join Duqueine Team in the European Le Mans Series' LMP2 class.^[18][19] His replacement was Gabriele Minì, who finished his first full season in F2 in 13th driving for Prema Racing.^[20]

Prema Racing replaced MP-bound Minì with Aston Martin junior driver Mari Boya, who graduated from FIA F3 after finishing the 2025 season in third with Campos Racing.^[21]

Rodin Motorsport driver Amaury Cordeel left Formula 2 ahead of the final two rounds of the 2025 season to join Team WRT in the GT World Challenge Europe.^[22] To replace him, the team signed Martinius Stenshorne for his full-season debut after he had already entered the Baku round of the 2025 season with Trident before deputising for Cordeel during the final two rounds of 2025. He stepped up from FIA F3, where he came fifth in 2025 with Hitech.^[23]

ART Grand Prix saw Ritomo Miyata move to Hitech, while Victor Martins left Formula 2 after three seasons to join Alpine for their WEC Hypercar programme and the Williams F1 Team as a test and development driver.^[24] The team signed Thai driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who finished seventh with Campos Racing in the 2025 FIA F3 season and already made his F2 debut in the 2025 season finale driving for Trident, and Kush Maini, who joined ART for his fourth F2 season after finishing 16th in 2025 with DAMS.^[25][26]

Joshua Dürksen left AIX Racing after two seasons of driving for the team, to join Invicta Racing.^[7] To replace him, AIX signed Emerson Fittipaldi Jr., who stepped up from Eurocup-3, where he drove for MP Motorsport.^[27]

Van Amersfoort Racing saw John Bennett move to Trident.^[28] 2023 FIA WEC LMGTE Am Champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Nico Varrone, who last competed in single-seaters in the 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, replaced him.^[29]

Trident have an all-new lineup as Max Esterson and Sami Meguetounif, who raced for the majority of 2025, did not return to the series, with Esterson joining RLL Team McLaren in IMSA's GTD class, and Meguetounif joining TDS Racing in the European Le Mans Series' LMP2 class.^[30][31] The team signed John Bennett, who finished his debut F2 season 22nd with Van Amersfoort Racing, and FIA F3 driver Laurens van Hoepen, who came 12th with ART Grand Prix and already raced with Trident for the last three rounds of 2025.^[28][32]

• Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 followed Formula One in replacing the round at Imola Circuit with a second round in Spain held at the newly-built Madring.^[34][35]
• The round at Baku City Circuit will be held a day earlier in the week than usual, with the sprint race held on Friday and the feature race held on Saturday, to accommodate the country's national day.^[36]
• Two rounds were set to be held at Bahrain International Circuit and Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but were cancelled due to the Iran war.^[37]

• 2025 saw the championship use Aramco-supplied fuel containing 70% sustainable components, and a further increase in sustainability is planned for 2026 ahead of the series' goal of adopting fully synthetic fuels in 2027.^[38]

The season-opener at Albert Park Circuit began with Dino Beganovic qualifying on pole position followed by Martinius Stenshorne in second and Alex Dunne in third. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak started the reverse-grid sprint race from pole position by virtue of having qualified tenth. Third-place starter Oliver Goethe gained a position from Joshua Dürksen at the start, but later lost the place and then spun out. Dürksen then overtook Inthraphuvasak for the lead on lap two. On lap fifteen, Mari Boya crashed and brought out the safety car. Noel León, who started seventh but had improved to third place, overtook Inthraphuvasak for second shortly after racing resumed. Inthraphuvasak was then passed by Stenshorne and Dunne in the closing laps, however Stenshorne was demoted from the podium with a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, promoting Dunne to third. Dürksen claimed his fifth Formula 2 race win and León achieved a podium in his debut Formula 2 race.

In the feature race, a slow start from pole-sitter Beganovic dropped him to fifth place at the first corner. A collision between teammates Stenshorne and Dunne on lap three eliminated both drivers from the race and allowed Nikola Tsolov into the lead. Most drivers were running the softest tyre compound and thus made pit stops in the early laps. After the pit stops, Tsolov maintained his position with Rafael Câmara behind. Beganovic had recovered from his poor start and overtook Câmara on lap fifteen, but soon stopped on-track with a mechanical failure, causing a safety car deployment. Race leader Nico Varrone, who was yet to pit, made his tyre change under the safety car conditions and emerged in first place. Varrone was unable to hold the lead for long and soon received a penalty for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him outside the points. Tsolov crossed the finish line to take his first Formula 2 victory, followed by Câmara and 11th-place starter Laurens van Hoepen, who both achieved their first Formula 2 podium finishes. Tsolov's victory put him in the lead of the championship after the first round, seven points ahead of Câmara in second.

Points are awarded to the top eight classified finishers in the sprint race, and to the top ten classified finishers in the feature race.^[c] The pole-sitter in the feature race also receives two points, and one point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap in both the feature and sprint races, provided that driver finished inside the top ten. If the driver who set the fastest lap is classified outside the top ten, the point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap of those inside the top ten. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race as the grid for it is set by reversing the top ten qualifiers.^[40]

Sprint race points

Points are awarded to the top eight classified finishers, excluding the fastest lap point which is given to the top ten classified finishers.^[40]

Feature race points

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. Bonus points are awarded to the pole-sitter and to the driver who set the fastest lap and finished in the top ten.^[40]

• FIA Formula 2 Championship official website