{"id":2175,"date":"2026-09-13T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=2175"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T11:36:15","slug":"tsolov-leaves-madrid-with-f2-lead-cut-to-7-points-as-camara-closes-in-despite-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f2\/tsolov-leaves-madrid-with-f2-lead-cut-to-7-points-as-camara-closes-in-despite-penalty\/","title":{"rendered":"Tsolov leaves Madrid with F2 lead cut to 7 points as C\u00e2mara closes in despite penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nikola Tsolov remains the 2026 F2 championship leader on 177 points but failed to score in either Madrid race.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rafael C\u00e2mara added 4 points across the weekend and moves to 170, reducing Tsolov&#8217;s championship advantage from 11 to 7 points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gabriele Min\u00ec remains third on 153, while Alexander Dunne&#8217;s second place in the Feature Race lifts him to 139 and keeps four drivers within 38 points of the lead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nikola Tsolov remains at the top of the Formula 2 championship after the inaugural Madrid round, but his advantage has been reduced to only <strong>7 points<\/strong> after a difficult weekend at Madring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Campos driver arrived in Spain with 177 points and an 11-point advantage over Rafael C\u00e2mara. He leaves with exactly the same total after failing to score in either race, while his Invicta rival moved from 166 to <strong>170 points<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">C\u00e2mara&#8217;s gain could have been substantially larger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Brazilian started Sunday&#8217;s Feature Race from third and was running in the points before making contact with Oliver Goethe at Turn 1. The MP Motorsport driver was sent into the wall, prompting a Safety Car, and the stewards subsequently handed C\u00e2mara a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">C\u00e2mara crossed the line ninth but fell to tenth once the penalty was applied, earning only a single point. Combined with the 3 points he scored during Saturday&#8217;s Sprint, that was nevertheless enough to reduce Tsolov&#8217;s championship advantage to 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Formula 2 regulations award 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 points to the top 10 in a Feature Race, with an additional point available for the fastest lap when set by a driver classified inside the top 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tsolov&#8217;s Madrid weekend was even more costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bulgarian entered the round after a strong Monza weekend had left him on <strong>177 points, 11 ahead of C\u00e2mara and 30 clear of Gabriele Min\u00ec<\/strong>. He then spun out of Saturday&#8217;s Sprint and failed to score again in Sunday&#8217;s main race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That has compressed a championship battle that had appeared to be moving in Tsolov&#8217;s favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Min\u00ec and Dunne remain in title contention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gabriele Min\u00ec also made progress in Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MP Motorsport driver scored 6 points for seventh in Sunday&#8217;s Feature Race, taking his total from 147 to <strong>153<\/strong>. He therefore sits 24 points behind Tsolov and 17 behind C\u00e2mara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alexander Dunne made a much larger gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Irishman started alongside Dino Beganovic on the front row and finished second in the Feature Race. Combined with his qualifying points, his Madrid haul takes him to <strong>139<\/strong>, moving him within 38 points of the championship lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That leaves four drivers separated by 38 points with three rounds remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beganovic was the biggest mover among the leading group after a near-perfect Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DAMS driver <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f2\/beganovic-takes-first-f2-win-of-2026-in-madrid-as-camara-penalty-limits-title-gains\/\">started the Feature Race from pole after setting a 1:44.331 in qualifying<\/a>, controlled the Safety Car restarts and went on to take his first victory of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 27 points earned from pole and victory take Beganovic to <strong>106<\/strong>, lifting him to sixth in the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dino Beganovic controlled the Madrid Feature Race to take his first win of 2026 (Photo: Reproduction\/F2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Noel Le\u00f3n remains fifth with <strong>119 points<\/strong>, 58 behind Campos team-mate Tsolov, while Joshua D\u00fcrksen sits seventh on 90.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further down the order, Ritomo Miyata&#8217;s breakthrough Madrid weekend brought him level with Martinius Stenshorne on <strong>70 points<\/strong>. Miyata claimed his maiden Formula 2 victory in Saturday&#8217;s Sprint before finishing third in Sunday&#8217;s Feature Race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emerson Fittipaldi also made a significant gain. Second in the Sprint and fifth in the Feature Race lifted him to <strong>28 points<\/strong>, level with Sebasti\u00e1n Montoya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">F2 2026 standings after Madrid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Pos.<\/th><th>Driver<\/th><th>Points<\/th><th>Gap<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>1<\/td><td>N. TSolov<\/td><td><strong>177<\/strong><\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2<\/td><td>R. C\u00c2MARA<\/td><td><strong>170<\/strong><\/td><td>-7<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3<\/td><td>G. MIN\u00cc<\/td><td><strong>153<\/strong><\/td><td>-24<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4<\/td><td>A. DUNNE<\/td><td><strong>139<\/strong><\/td><td>-38<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5<\/td><td>N. LE\u00d3N<\/td><td><strong>119<\/strong><\/td><td>-58<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6<\/td><td>D. BEGANOVIC<\/td><td><strong>106<\/strong><\/td><td>-71<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7<\/td><td>J. D\u00dcRKSEN<\/td><td><strong>90<\/strong><\/td><td>-87<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8<\/td><td>K. MAINI<\/td><td><strong>88<\/strong><\/td><td>-89<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9<\/td><td>L. VAN HOEPEN<\/td><td><strong>72<\/strong><\/td><td>-105<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10<\/td><td>T. INTHRAPHUVASAK<\/td><td><strong>71<\/strong><\/td><td>-106<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11<\/td><td>M. STENSHORNE<\/td><td><strong>70<\/strong><\/td><td>-107<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12<\/td><td>R. MIYATA<\/td><td><strong>70<\/strong><\/td><td>-107<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>13<\/td><td>J. BENNETT<\/td><td><strong>38<\/strong><\/td><td>-139<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>14<\/td><td>R. VILLAG\u00d3MEZ<\/td><td><strong>38<\/strong><\/td><td>-139<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>15<\/td><td>O. GOETHE<\/td><td><strong>37<\/strong><\/td><td>-140<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>16<\/td><td>S. MONTOYA<\/td><td><strong>28<\/strong><\/td><td>-149<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>17<\/td><td>E. FITTIPALDI<\/td><td><strong>28<\/strong><\/td><td>-149<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>18<\/td><td>R. BILINSKI<\/td><td><strong>26<\/strong><\/td><td>-151<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>19<\/td><td>C. HERTA<\/td><td><strong>26<\/strong><\/td><td>-151<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>20<\/td><td>N. VARRONE<\/td><td><strong>15<\/strong><\/td><td>-162<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>21<\/td><td>M. BOYA<\/td><td><strong>13<\/strong><\/td><td>-164<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>22<\/td><td>C. SHIELDS<\/td><td><strong>10<\/strong><\/td><td>-167<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The championship now heads to <strong>Baku<\/strong>, where the Azerbaijan round takes place from September 24-26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Tsolov, Madrid ultimately became a missed opportunity. He arrived with an 11-point advantage and leaves with only 7 despite C\u00e2mara&#8217;s costly incident with Goethe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">C\u00e2mara can view the weekend from the opposite perspective. The Invicta driver missed a chance to make a much larger championship gain, but even after his 10-second penalty he leaves Madring closer to the lead than when he arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And with Min\u00ec only 24 points from the top and Dunne 38 behind, the 2026 Formula 2 championship is no longer simply a two-driver contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the F2 standings after Madrid?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nikola Tsolov leads with 177 points, followed by Rafael C\u00e2mara on 170 and Gabriele Min\u00ec on 153. Alexander Dunne is fourth with 139 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many points separate Tsolov and C\u00e2mara?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only <strong>7 points<\/strong> separate Tsolov and C\u00e2mara after Madrid. The gap was 11 points before the weekend, with Tsolov on 177 and C\u00e2mara on 166.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is the next Formula 2 race after Madrid?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formula 2 returns in <strong>Azerbaijan from September 24-26<\/strong>, with the championship battle continuing on the Baku street circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nikola Tsolov failed to score across the Madrid weekend but remains on top of the Formula 2 standings with 177 points, while Rafael C\u00e2mara reduced the gap to just 7 after salvaging tenth in Sunday&#8217;s Feature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020314518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Tsolov leads C\u00e2mara by just 7 points","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Red Bull Content Pool","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":7,"location":""}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[526,360,94,67],"42wp_author":[7],"class_list":["post-2175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f2","tag-f2-standings","tag-formula-2","tag-nikola-tsolov","tag-rafael-camara","42wp_author-victor-martins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2179,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions\/2179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020314518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}