F2 Miami Qualifying Results as Kush Maini Makes History & Herta Struggles

Check out the full report and results from F2's first qualifying session at the Miami International Autodrome.

Colton Herta | IMAGO / PsnewZ

Kush Maini took his first pole position in Formula 2 with a stunning lap in qualifying at the Miami International Autodrome.

The ART driver made history in the series' first event in North America with a best lap of 1:39.888s, finishing just 0.033s ahead of Invicta's Rafael Camara and Martinus Stenshorne.

But Rodin's Dutch driver saw his session come to an abrupt end in the final minute as his engine blew up at Turn 16, preventing any improvements from those around as the yellow flags flew at that section of the track.

And it was a disappointing session for Cadillac reserve Colton Herta at his home event, the American qualifying just 14th after an error on his best lap meant he couldn't match his practice-topping effort in the Hitech.

Maini makes history

KUSH MA1N1 🥇

A first pole-position for the @AlpineF1Team Academy driver 👊🩷#F2 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/zLjBs6ISe2

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) May 1, 2026

Other than Stenshorne's issue, it was an undramatic session with the track having gripped up from practice running for both the F2 and Formula 1 fields.

When push came to shove, it was Alpine junior Maini who made the most of his F2 experience to ensure he would start the feature race from pole, denying Camara and Stenshorne, who himself was only 0.050s slower.

Alex Dunne put the second Rodin fourth on the feature grid despite a hefty lock-up into Turn 17, leading the fellow Alpine junior Gabriele Mini in the top five.

The surprise of the session was Van Amersfoort Racing's Nico Varrone, who at one stage had slotted himself into provisional pole. The Argentine ultimately slid to sixth but has a chance of a solid points haul from the weekend.

Joshua Durksen was seventh ahead of Oliver Goethe in an Invicta-MP fourth-row lockout, while Laurens Van Hoepen was the lead Trident in ninth.

Sprint pole and 10th in qualifying went to championship leader Nikola Tsolov, who overcame a nightmare start to the weekend in the Campos. Red Bull's Bulgarian junior failed to complete a representative lap before stopping on track in practice, yet managed to haul himself into the top 10 in qualifying to limit the damage.

Round one's polesitter Dino Beganovic was only 11th ahead of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, while Noel Leon was 13th in the second Campos.

Herta was 14th after a lock-up at Turn 17 that saw him run wide, before his second lap was voided by a track limit transgression at Turn 5.

John Bennett was 15th, followed by Mari Boya and Ritomo Miyata, who failed to match teammate Herta. Emerson Fittipaldi, Rafael Villagomez, Sebastian Montoya, Roman Bilinski and Cian Shields round out the 22-car field.

F2 Miami: Qualifying results

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