Australian Sprint Race

Date
Sat 7th March 2026 (UTC)
Sat 7th March 2026 (Local)

Timestamp
2026-03-07T03:10:00

Time

03:10:00 UTC (14:10:00 Local)

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League
Formula 2

Season
2026

Round
1

Status
Match Finished

Location
Albert Park Circuit

Video Highlights

Play on YouTube

Event Statistics

Description

The 2026 FIA Formula 2 Championship officially begins at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, with the Sprint Race offering the first wheel-to-wheel action of the year. This 23-lap dash is a high-speed game of strategy on the semi-permanent street track, which is notoriously "green" and slippery early in the weekend. With four DRS zones scattered throughout the 5.278-km layout, the race is expected to be a tight battle where track position and tire management are equally vital.

The big story from Qualifying was Dino Beganovic, who snatched the first pole of the season for DAMS Lucas Oil with a blistering 1:28.695. However, due to the Sprint Race's reversed-grid format, the top ten qualifiers are flipped. This puts Taylor Barnard (AIX Racing) on the pole for today’s race, with Joshua Dürksen (Invicta Racing) alongside him. The championship favorites, including Beganovic and Martinius Stenshorne, will start from the back of the top ten, forced to fight their way through a hungry midfield. All eyes will also be on Colton Herta, who makes his highly anticipated F2 debut with Hitech Pulse-Eight and looks to use his extensive IndyCar experience to master the chaotic Melbourne restarts.

Reports

Result List

01	Joshua Dürksen	39:09.726
02	Noel León	39:11.865
03	Alexander Dunne	39:15.472

Result Description

1 /J. Dürksen /Invicta Racing /39:09.726
2 /N. León /Campos Racing /39:11.865
3 /A. Dunne /Rodin Motorsport /39:15.472
4 /T. Inthraphuvasak /ART Grand Prix /39:16.882
5 /R. Miyata /Hitech TGR /39:16.992
6 /G. Minì /MP Motorsport /39:17.460
7 /L. van Hoepen /TRIDENT /39:18.203
8 /R. Bilinski /DAMS Lucas Oil /39:18.285
9 /S. Montoya /PREMA Racing /39:18.708
10 /M. Stenshorne /Rodin Motorsport /39:19.245
11 /R. Câmara /Invicta Racing /39:19.274
12 /K. Maini /ART Grand Prix /39:19.664
13 /R. Villagómez /Van Amersfoort Racing /39:20.057
14 /E. Fittipaldi /AIX Racing /39:21.804
15 /J. Bennett /TRIDENT /39:22.295
16 /C. Herta /Hitech TGR /39:22.927
17 /N. Tsolov /Campos Racing /39:23.630
18 /O. Goethe /MP Motorsport /39:24.215
19 /C. Shields /AIX Racing /39:25.164
20 /D. Beganovic /DAMS Lucas Oil /39:25.691
21 /N. Varrone /Van Amersfoort Racing /39:27.956
22 /M. Boya /PREMA Racing /DNF

Joshua Dürksen made a perfect start to the 2026 season, claiming a dominant victory in the opening Sprint Race at Albert Park. Starting from second on the grid, the Invicta Racing driver briefly lost a position at the start but fought back immediately, reclaiming the lead on Lap 2 with a DRS-assisted move into Turn 9. From there, Dürksen was largely unchallenged, managing a late-race Safety Car restart with ease to secure his second consecutive Sprint Race win in Melbourne following his success in 2025.

The battle behind him was a frantic affair. Noel León produced a stellar drive for Campos Racing, climbing from seventh to take second place. The final step of the podium went to Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport), who was promoted from fourth after his teammate Martinius Stenshorne received a five-second time penalty for an off-track advantage, dropping the Norwegian to 10th. Other notable performances included Gabriele Minì, who charged from 21st on the grid to finish sixth, while debutant Colton Herta finished 16th after an incident-filled race that included front-wing damage. The race was interrupted on Lap 15 by a Safety Car after Mari Boya crashed out at Turn 6.

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