Gabriele Minì claimed his first FIA Formula 2 victory with a late charge in Miami on 3 May 2026, winning a breathless Feature Race for MP Motorsport. The Alpine junior emerged on top after a frantic three-car fight with DAMS Lucas Oil’s Dino Beganovic and Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara in the closing minutes.
After multiple formation laps behind the Safety Car, the race began with a standing start. Pole-sitter Kush Maini launched cleanly to lead, while wheelspin for second-placed Câmara opened the door for Martinius Stenshorne to take P2. Both the Rodin Motorsport and Invicta Racing drivers ran deep at Turn 1, allowing Minì to slot into third.
Câmara regrouped to retake third into Turn 7, with Invicta teammate Joshua Duerksen following him through to fourth. Running second on the road, Stenshorne was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for a starting procedure infringement before leaving the grid. The Safety Car was then deployed to recover Nikola Tsolov’s Campos Racing car after first-corner contact with ART Grand Prix’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak left the championship leader out; the Thai driver later received a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
Under the Safety Car, drivers were instructed to pass through the pit lane; Maini and Câmara continued down the main straight as most of the field peeled in. Stenshorne emerged from the pit lane in second as the pack formed up, and when the Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 3 he pitted to serve his penalty, promoting the Invicta pair to second and third behind Maini.
The restart proved costly for Oliver Goethe, who suffered a snap at Turn 18 and hit the barriers, eliminating the MP Motorsport driver and triggering a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 5 to clear debris. Back to green on Lap 6, Beganovic attacked, moving past Minì for P4 after probing around the outside at Turn 1 and sealing the move by Turn 4. He quickly latched onto Duerksen for second as Câmara slipped further from leader Maini.
On Lap 9, Alexander Dunne ran deep at Turn 17 and, struggling for grip off-line as he tried to rejoin, found the barriers and retired, prompting another Safety Car. Most of the field headed in for mandatory pit stops, though Duerksen stayed out to take the lead, with Colton Herta and John Bennett moving up to second and third by remaining on track. A delay for Maini in the crowded pit lane allowed Câmara to rejoin ahead of him as they slotted into fourth and fifth. With the interruptions, the race switched to a timed finish with 23 minutes remaining.
Duerksen aced the restart to open a small buffer over Herta. Beganovic continued his climb, rounding Maini at Turn 1 for fifth. Noel León then dived inside at Turn 17 to demote Maini, with Minì also moving forward as the order compressed. Behind them, contact between Nico Varrone and Stenshorne put the Norwegian out and brought out yet another Safety Car; Varrone later received a 10-second time penalty for the collision.
Once Duerksen, Herta and Bennett completed their mandatory stops under caution, Câmara inherited the lead ahead of Beganovic and León. The Safety Car returned to the pits with 16 minutes to go, and while Câmara held station, Beganovic applied intense pressure. Minì executed a bold move on León into Turn 16 to grab third just before a Virtual Safety Car was shown with 12 minutes left, which then became a full Safety Car.
A five-minute sprint settled it. With the top four compressed within two seconds and the track drying rapidly, Wet tyres overheated and mistakes crept in. Beganovic pounced at Turn 17 with just over a minute on the clock; both he and Câmara ran wide, but the Swede rejoined quicker to seize the lead into Turn 19. Câmara immediately tried to retake the position into Turn 1, ran off, and Minì swept into second as the Brazilian rejoined.
Minì then zeroed in on Beganovic, forcing an error into Turn 11. The pair ran side-by-side through the chicane, the DAMS car cutting across and emerging ahead. When Beganovic ran wide at Turn 17, Minì capitalised, taking the lead at the start of the final lap and keeping his composure to the flag to secure a maiden F2 win ahead of Beganovic and Câmara.
Key incidents framed the contest: Tsolov retired after first-corner contact with Inthraphuvasak, who was penalised; Stenshorne served a 10-second stop-and-go for a starting procedure infringement; Goethe and Dunne exited after separate accidents; and Varrone received a 10-second penalty for the collision that eliminated Stenshorne.
After a chaotic, weather-affected race, attention turns to the next round as teams and drivers look to carry lessons forward and consolidate momentum from Miami.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/min-snatches-maiden-f2-win-in-dramatic-miami-feature-race). Visit for full coverage.*
