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F2 Miami Results: Gabriele Mini Wins and Colton Herta Scores Points in Crazy Feature Race

Wet weather created drama in the Miami F2 feature race.
Ewan Gale|
Gabriele Mini
Gabriele Mini | IMAGO / PsnewZ

Gabriel Mini kick-started his F2 season with a thrilling victory in the Miami feature race.

The Italian led home Dino Beganovic and Rafael Camara in treacherous conditions, following multiple safety car interruptions.

It means the Alpine junior joins Nikola Tsolov as the first drivers to win in the series in North America.

Crazy race leads to exciting finish

With heavy rain having lashed the Miami International Autodrome early on Sunday, the race got underway behind the safety car as drivers became acquainted with the conditions and determined whether there was sufficient visibility to green-flag racing.

Third on the grid was Martinius Stenshorne, but before the safety car had even pulled in, the Rodin driver was handed a stop-go penalty for a start procedure infringement.

After almost 10 minutes behind the safety car, race direction gave the green light for a standing start and the feature could finally begin.

Polesitter Kush Maini had the best getaway as the field stormed down to Turn 1 with rooster tails streaking into the air - a number of drivers running wide as they tried to find grip at the right-hander.

But championship leader and sprint winner Tsolov was rotated at the first corner after contact from behind from ART's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, an incident that triggered the safety car and left the Thai driver with a 10-second penalty.

Confusion reigned, though, as Maini and Camara continued on track when race direction had indicated all cars had to drive through the pit lane as Tsolov's car was removed from its position. Stenshorne beat Maini, having led the rest of the field through the pits, though the pair switched back while behind the safety car.

The field went back to green on lap four as Stenshorne peeled off to take his penalty. But there was trouble straight away as Oliver Goethe lost control at Turn 19 and slapped the barriers, leaving the MP driver stranded at Turn 3 and out of the race.

Despite debris on the start-finish straight, Goethe's car was removed swiftly and racing continued for a lap, though a virtual safety car was eventually triggered to clean the track.

The VSC ended at the start of lap 7, with Durksen all over the back of Invicta teammate Camara for second.

Beganovic was a driver on the move and a bold overtake on Mini at Turn 4 saw the DAMS pilot up to fourth from 11th on the grid.

Maini was comfortable during the first stint, lapping a full second faster than Camara in second, stretching his lead out to some four seconds by the end of lap eight.

Alex Dunne has good form in the wet in F2, but while challenging Mini for fifth on lap nine, he ran off into the barriers at Turn 17 and out of the race, his stricken Rodin triggering another safety car.

That meant a stampede onto pitlane as drivers completed their mandatory stops. Maini had to wait for traffic, and that allowed Camara into the provisional lead, though Durksen, Herta and John Bennett all stayed out on track.

It was an intriguing gamble from those three with the track continuing to dry, though at this point, as the race turned into a timed event rather than a lap count, it was too wet to think about slicks.

The safety car ended with 23 minutes to go, and Maini instantly fell backward behind Beganovic, who swept by into Turn 1.

Herta was struggling for pace in second, and he had Bennett, Camara, and Beganovic lurking on his rear wing. That was allowing Durksen to get down the road, while Maini lost more time, this time to Noel Leon and Mini.

The alternate strategy gamble looked as though it was dashed when Nico Varrone, Stenshorne and Laurens Van Hoepen collided at Turn 17, the Rodin driver left stranded and triggering the safety car yet again. Varrone was penalized 10 seconds for his part in the incident.

That left Durksen, Herta and Bennett to finally pit, seemingly costing any hope of points without further incident.

Camara led the restart with 16 minutes on the clock, but Beganovic was lurking. The F3 champion ran wide at Turn 11 to give his rival a sniff of the chance, but the right-hander at T12 saved him from further attack.

A stunning move from Mini on Leon at Turn 16 came just in the nick of time as the VSC was triggered again, this time for Cian Shields' stranded AIX after a second spin in as many laps at Turns 7 and 8.

Incredibly, Durksen and Bennett had found their way back into the top 10 and would have a last chance of gaining further positions as race control upgraded the VSC to the full safety car.

But Trident driver Bennett gambled on slicks on a clearly damp track and it was clear that it was the wrong decision as he fought for grip at low speed, spinning at Turn 12. Unsurprisingly, the Briton pitted to switch back to wets straight away.

One last push to the chequered flag was granted when the safety car ended with five minutes to go and, with just 90 seconds remaining on the clock, an error through Turns 14 and 15 left Camara vulnerable.

Beganovic went to the outside at Turn 17, but Camara ran deep and took them both wide. The DAMS cut back to take the lead, but now Mini was involved.

Camara sent a dive bomb into Turn 1 that threatened to take both himself and Beganovic out and ultimately fell back behind Mini, who was now after Beganovic.

Side-by-side, they went through Turns 12, 13 and 14 after an error by Beganovic, though he held on by hopping across the chicane. Alpine junior Mini final got his reward when his rival ran wide at Turn 17, taking the lead to begin the final lap.

And that's how it stayed as Mini jumped to second in the standings. Beganovic clinched second and Camara was third. Leon held onto fourth ahead of Maini and Ritomo Miyata, though both faced investigations post-race, as did Camara.

Colton Herta, Hitech, F2, Australian GP 2026
Colton Herta | Hitech GP

Mari Boya rose from 16th on the grid to seventh for Prema, ahead of Herta, who charged on fresh tires at the end to outperform Durksen and Bennett on the alternate strategy.

Sebastian Montoya collected points in ninth, with Durksen rounding out the top 10.

F2 Miami race results

Position

Driver / Team

1

Gabriele Mini / MP Motorsport

2

Dino Beganovic / DAMS

3

Rafael Camara / Invicta

4

Noel Leon / Campos

5

Kush Maini / ART

6

Ritomo Miyata / Hitech

7

Mari Boya / Prema

8

Colton Herta / Hitech

9

Sebastian Montoya / Prema

10

Joshua Durksen / Invicta

11

Laurens Van Hoepen / Trident

12

Emerson Fittipaldi / AIX

13

Nico Varrone / VAR

14

John Bennett / Trident

15

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak / ART

DNF

Cian Shields / AIX

DNF

Martinius Stenshorne / Rodin

DNF

Rafael Villagomez / VAR

DNF

Alex Dunne / Rodin

DNF

Oliver Goethe / MP Motorsport

DNF

Nikola Tsolov / Campos

DNS

Roman Bilinski / DAMS

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Ewan Gale
EWAN GALE

Ewan is a motorsport journalist covering F1 for Grand Prix On SI. Having been educated at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, and subsequently graduating from university with a sports journalism degree, Ewan made a move into F1 in 2021. Ewan joins after a stint with Autosport as an editor, having written for a number of outlets including RacingNews365 and GPFans, during which time he has covered grand prix and car launches as an accredited member of the media.

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