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F2 Sprint Results as Leon Wins to Make History in Canada, Herta Charges Through Field

Check out the full report and results from a frenetic Canadian F2 sprint.
Ewan Gale|
Colton Herta
Colton Herta | IMAGO / PsnewZ

Noel Leon became the first Mexican driver to take a Formula 2 victory by winning the Canadian sprint at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Leon overcame polesitter Gabriel Mini in the 28-lap event, making the most of two safety car periods to make his move.

Alex Dunne finished second on the road ahead of Mini but was one of a number of drivers penalized in a frenetic first race in Canada for the championship, with Martinius Stenshorne promoted onto the podium.

Drama from the start

Mini led from pole, but behind there was a mighty squabble into Turns 1 and 2, Durksen making slight contact as he jumped from fifth on the grid ahead of Leon for second.

That allowed Miami winner Mini to stretch his advantage to almost two seconds by the end of the opening tour, crucial for conserving tires early in the piece, especially with limited knowledge of the series' first visit to Ile Notre-Dame.

Leon wasn't behind for long, though, as he used the DRS to drag alongside the Invicta into the final chicane at the end of lap two. Durksen ran across the cut-through and Campos driver Leon re-established his advantage.

Down the field, Sebastian Montoya found himself in a loop at the final corner and dropped to the back of the field in the Prema.

The ding-dong for second continued on lap four as Durksen exploited DRS to get back ahead of Leon, setting his sights on Mini 2.2s up the road.

Nico Varrone was doing well in the top 10 after a strong qualifying, but that was undone when he was given a stop-go penalty for being out of position at the safety car line ahead of the race start.

Another on course for a strong result was John Bennett, the Trident driver, in a career-best fifth before he was rotated as championship leader Nikola Tsolov got his braking wrong at the hairpin and hit Stenshorne, triggering a chain reaction.

With Bennett stranded, a safety car was triggered on lap 11 to eradicate Mini's lead at the front of the pack.

Racing resumed on lap 15 and Mini left his restart too late, allowing Leon to attack into Turn 1. To the MP driver's credit, he positioned his car to the inside to defend position and hold onto the lead.

Rafael Villagomez then made a move on Durksen into the hairpin for third, though he was picked back off down the back straight to the final chicane. The Paraguayan ran wide, however, and was forced to allow the VAR into third.

Durksen then lost a place to Stenshorne as he was hit with a five-second penalty for his contact with Leon at the start, his race falling apart by the corner.

While the battle for third continued, Mini and Leon had stretched some three seconds clear. Durksen lost another place as Tsolov found his way into fifth, forcing the Invicta into the clutches of Dunne in the Rodin.

Durksen's race went from bad to worse at the hairpin on lap 18 as contact from Dunne behind rotated him as the pack bunched behind Villagomez.

Up front, Leon was on the back of Mini and, using the ever-powerful DRS assistance into the final corner, the Campos driver took the lead in the nick of time before the safety car was called upon for the second time to retrieve the stricken Invicta.

When the safety car peeled off at the end of lap 21, Leon did what Mini didn't before and got on with it early, creating a buffer.

Tsolov made an error allowing Dunne through into fifth, though both drivers were given a 10-second penalty for their collisions that triggered the safety car periods.

With four laps left, Stenshorne made his move on Villagomez for third into Turn 1, but couldn't slow it down and ran wide, dropping behind Dunne.

But the VAR driver, who was on for a stellar podium, clobbered the wall on the exit of Turn 4 to bring his afternoon to an early end.

With debris strewn across the track, the virtual safety car was called upon, a neutralization that didn't end until there was just one and a half laps to go, by which point Leon's lead was unassailable.

He would hold onto victory and lead Dunne and Mini across the line. With penalties applied, the Irishman dropped down the field to 13th, promoting Stenshorne to third.

Laurens Van Hoepen was fourth for Trident ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi, who took his best result in fifth for AIX.

Dino Beganovic was sixth for DAMS ahead of reigning F3 champion Rafael Camara and teammate Roman Bilinski, who rounded out the points.

Colton Herta had a nightmare qualifying but kept out of trouble and picked his way through to ninth, with Oliver Goethe another to rise through the field to 10th.

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

Ritomo Miyata was 11th ahead of Kush Maini, with Dunne and Tsolov's penalties leaving them scoreless.

Mari Boya was 15th, Varrone 16th and Sebastian Montoya peeling into the pits two laps from the end for retirement, alongside Cian Shields.

ART driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak did not participate, having withdrawn from the weekend on medical grounds following his crash in qualifying.

F2 Canada: Sprint results

Position

Driver / Team

1

Noel Leon / Campos

2

Gabriele Mini / MP Motorsport

3

Martinius Stenshorne / Rodin

4

Laurens Van Hoepen / Trident

5

Emerson Fittipaldi / AIX

6

Dino Beganovic / DAMS

7

Rafael Camara / Invicta

8

Roman Bilinksi / DAMS

9

Colton Herta / Hitech

10

Oliver Goethe / MP Motorsport

11

Ritomo Miyata / Hitech

12

Kush Maini / ART

13

Alex Dunne / Rodin

14

Nikola Tsolov / Campos

15

Mari Boya / Prema

16

Nico Varrone / VAR

DNF

Sebastian Montoya / Prema

DNF

Cian Shields / AIX

DNF

Rafael Villagomez / VAR

DNF

Joshua Durksen / Invicta

DNF

John Bennett / Trident

DNS

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak / ART

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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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