F2 Australia Results: Colton Herta Secures First Points and Nikola Tsolov Makes History

Full report and results from the Formula 2 Feature race at the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

Colton Herta | IMAGO / PsnewZ

Nikola Tsolov shrugged off a nightmare sprint race to secure the Formula 2 feature at the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

The Campos driver finished 1.6s ahead of Invicta rookie Rafael Camara, with Trident's Laurens Van Hoepen third.

American former IndyCar star Colton Herta secured his first points in the championship by finishing seventh, fighting back across a weekend that started with a crash in practice.

Rodin gift for Tsolov

CONTACT BETWEEN RODIN TEAMMATES DUNNE AND STENSHORNE FROM THE LEAD OF THE RACE 😱💥#F2 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/zlGwV8lIPX

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 8, 2026

There was drama even before the race had started, with a pitlane collision between Sebastian Montoya and Roman Bilinski, placing the Colombian under investigation after the event.

Polesitter Dino Beganovic had a nightmare start as he dropped to fifth, swamped by Rodin duo Martinius Stenshorne and Alex Dunne on the run to Turn 1.

The front two locked up and would have to nurse flat-spotted tires for the entirety of the first stint while down the order at Turn 3, Noel Leon ran into trouble with Oliver Goethe.

Dunne lunged to the inside of Stenshorne at Turn 11 on lap two, and the pair somehow avoided contact as they battled side-by-side through the final sector, with the Dutchman keeping the lead.

But the luck ran out on the run to Turn 1 as Alpine junior Dunne moved across on his teammate when making a move, swiping the front wing off Stenshorne's car and leaving him in the gravel.

Dunne would spin with damage and stop stranded at Turn 2, with the clean-up operation demanding a safety car.

That left Tsolov in the lead ahead of Camara and Beganovic when the race restarted on lap six. It also meant that Herta had been promoted to the top 10 for the first time in his fledgling F2 career.

Ninth-placed Montoya was the first of the top 10 to switch from super-soft tires to softs at the start of lap eight, which triggered a chain reaction in the following laps - Beganovic, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Herta all reacting immediately.

The American used the overcut to jump Montoya as the Prema driver got his tires up to temperature, while the rest of the top 10 went an extra lap.

Stopping earlier didn't help Beganovic as he fell behind Van Hoepen and Goethe, though he got past both on their outlaps, as did Montoya on Herta Ritomo Miyata and Inthraphuvasak, though speeding in the pitlane cost him a five-second penalty.

Herta was enjoying a much more prosperous race in his Hitech and moved past teammate Miyata for 10th, though that was net-eighth with Nico Varrone and Cian Shields running the alternate soft-to-super-soft strategy.

Beganovic's impressive stint on the softs continued with a move on reigning F3 champion Camara, dummying to the inside at Turn 9 to clinch net-second.

Lap 15 saw Miyata get back past Herta with DRS assistance as sprint winner Joshua Durksen closed onto the back of the duo, albeit with a penalty to his name after a false start.

Rotten luck struck Beganovic a lap later as he ground to a halt on the exit of Turn 10 with an apparent technical issue. That triggered a virtual safety car, which became a full safety car on lap 19.

💔💔💔#F2 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/OLV4aQktjN

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 8, 2026

That gave Varrone and Shields the chance to switch to the super-softs with a cheap pitstop - the former returning in the lead despite a slow stop as Tsolov was held up behind the safety car, which had tried to communicate that the Campos driver needed to pass by.

So when the race restarted on lap 22, the race order saw Varrone, who started 19th on the grid, in the lead from Tsolov and Camara.

Tsolov made a move for the lead straight away into Turn 3 to put the VAR between himself and Camara for at least a lap as Varrone was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pits. When Varrone managed to build temperature into his tires, he came back at Tsolov, dragging Camara with him.

While the VAR's tires began to drop off, Camara pounced, taking second but not until time had bled to Tsolov out in front. Van Hoepen and Goethe also demoted the Argentine.

And while Camara closed in late on, Tsolov was not to be troubled as he became the first Bulgarian to win in F2.

Van Hoepen was third for Trident's first podium sinze Azerbaijan 2024 as he held off Goethe.

Miyata was fifth ahead of Inthraphuvasak while Herta secured his first points of the season with seventh, promoted by the penalties for Montoya and Durksen, who finished ninth and 10th after Varrone's drop-off in pace held up those fighting for points.

Hitech GP

Eighth went to Gabriele Mini, who secured points in both sprint and feature races despite starting last but one on the grid following technical issues in qualifying.

Rafael Villagomez finished 11th ahead of Roman Bilinski and Mari Boya, while Leon could recover only to 14th after his first lap troubles.

Emerson Fittipaldi, Kush Maini, Varrone, John Bennett and Shields were the last of the finishers.

F2 Australia - Feature Race Results

Position	Driver / Team
1	Nikola Tsolov / Campos
2	Rafael Camara / Invicta
3	Laurens Van Hoepen / Trident
4	Oliver Goethe / MP Motorsport
5	Ritomo Miyata / Hitech GP
6	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak / ART
7	Colton Herta / Hitech GP
8	Gabriele Mini / MP Motorsport
9	Sebastian Montoya / Prema
10	Joshua Durksen / Invicta
11	Rafael Villagomez / VAR
12	Roman Bilinski / DAMS
13	Mari Boya / Prema
14	Neol Leon / Campos
15	Emerson Fittipaldi / AIX
16	Kush Maini / ART
17	Nico Varrone / VAR
18	John Bennett / Trident
19	Cian Shields / AIX
DNF	Dino Beganovic / DAMS
DNF	Alex Dunne / Rodin
DNF	Martinius Stenshorne