Beganovic wins Baku F2 Sprint as Câmara penalty hands Tsolov 11-point lead

Dino Beganovic passed championship leader Nikola Tsolov before controlling two Safety Car restarts, while Rafael Câmara fell to 16th after causing an opening-lap collision

News Summary

Dino Beganovic claimed his second consecutive Formula 2 victory
Rafael Câmara received a ten-second penalty after colliding with Mari Boya
Nikola Tsolov finished fifth and extended his championship lead to 11 points

Dino Beganovic won the Formula 2 Sprint Race in Baku on Friday after controlling the race from the sixth lap and surviving a late one-lap restart.

The DAMS driver started third and moved ahead of Laurens van Hoepen at the first corner. He then used the slipstream to overtake championship leader Nikola Tsolov for first place into Turn 1 on lap six.

Beganovic remained in control until the chequered flag, finishing ahead of van Hoepen and Alexander Dunne. It was the Swede’s second consecutive victory of 2026, following his Feature Race success in Madrid, and his second successive Baku Sprint win.

Rafael Câmara crossed the line fourth but was classified only 16th after serving a ten-second penalty for causing a collision with Mari Boya on the opening lap.

Câmara receives penalty after Boya collision

Câmara started sixth but locked his front tyres under braking for Turn 2 and struck the rear of Boya’s Prema. The Spaniard was sent into the barriers and retired immediately, prompting the first Safety Car.

The stewards held Câmara responsible and issued a ten-second time penalty. The Invicta driver continued and recovered towards the front, passing Sebastián Montoya before overtaking Tsolov for fourth.

His progress was interrupted when Joshua Dürksen crashed at Turn 1 on lap 18. Invicta brought Câmara into the pits during the resulting Safety Car period to serve the penalty and fit supersoft tyres.

Câmara returned in 18th and recovered two positions during the final lap, but 16th place left him without points.

The Brazilian remains second in the standings with 170 points, while Tsolov’s fifth place increased the championship leader’s total to 181. The gap between them has grown from seven to 11 points.

Acidente entre Rafael Câmara e Mari Boya (Foto: Reprodução / F2)

Beganovic controls restart as Dunne charges to podium

Tsolov started from reverse-grid pole and retained the lead through the opening corners, but Beganovic quickly established himself as the faster driver.

After taking first place on lap six, the DAMS driver built enough of an advantage to remain safe from the slipstream. Tsolov then began struggling with his rear tyres and lost second to van Hoepen on lap ten.

Dunne delivered the race’s strongest recovery. Starting tenth, the Rodin driver gained seven positions through a series of decisive overtakes and passed Tsolov for third at the beginning of lap 13.

The second Safety Car reduced Beganovic’s advantage and created a one-lap sprint to the finish. The Swede controlled the restart, however, and denied van Hoepen an opportunity to attack.

“Good race overall. I had a good start, got past Nikola and I think our pace was very strong,” Beganovic said after the race.

Martinius Stenshorne finished fourth after progressing from eighth, with Tsolov fifth. Roman Bilinski, Montoya and Kush Maini completed the points-scoring positions.

2026 Baku F2 Sprint Race results

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps/Gap
1	D. BEGANOVIC	Dams	21 laps
2	L. VAN HOEPEN	Trident	+1.058
3	A. DUNNE	Rodin	+1.476
4	M. STENSHORNE	Rodin	+1.920
5	N. TSOLOV	Campos	+3.341
6	R. BILINSKI	Dams	+4.006
7	S. MONTOYA	Prema	+4.160
8	K. MAINI	ART	+5.698
9	C. HERTA	Hitech	+6.555
10	J. BENNETT	Trident	+8.327
11	T. INTHRAPHUVASAK	ART	+8.359
12	C. SHIELDS	AIX	+9.297
13	R. VILLAGOMEZ	Van Amersfoort	+13.151
14	G. MINI	MP	+18.600
15	O. GOETHE	MP	+24.774
16	R. CAMARA	Invicta	+26.204
17	H. YAMAKOSHI	Van Amersfoort	+47.348
18	E. FITTIPALDI	AIX	+52.610
19	R. MIYATA	Hitech	+1 lap
20	N. LEÓN	Campos	+1 lap
21	J. DÜRKSEN	Invicta	DNF
22	M. BOYA	Prema	DNF