Kush Maini won this Saturday (the 13th) the Sprint that opened the fifth round of the 2026 Formula 2 season, held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. The ART Grand Prix driver started from second on the grid, seized the lead of the race right at the start, and built a margin over his rivals, securing his first victory of the year.
Second place went to Gabriele Mini, MP Motorsport driver who grabbed this position in the race’s closing stages, finishing seven seconds behind Maini. Nikola Tsolov, in a Campos Racing car, completed the podium with third place after fending off Colton Herta’s challenges. Noel León, from Campos, finished fourth, followed by Herta in fifth with Hitech.
Rafael Câmara took Invicta Racing to sixth place at the end of the 26 laps after starting from ninth, ahead of Dino Beganovic, seventh with DAMS. The points zone also included Alexander Dunne, eighth with Rodin Motorsport. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, from ART Grand Prix, and Nico Varrone, from Van Amersfoort, wrapped up the top-10.
Emmo Fittipaldi, another Brazilian on the main feeder series to Formula 1, steered the AIX Racing car to 16th place. The driver, in his first year in Formula 2, had started from 19th.
The race did not feature Safety Car incidents, but it did have happenings. Early on, Joshua Durksen was bumped by Martinius Stenshorne and went off the track, a move that earned a penalty for the Norwegian. On the final lap, Herta, who was dueling for a podium spot, failed to brake in one of the corners and lost positions.
The race that closes the Barcelona round of Formula 2 will be held on Sunday, starting at 6:25.
Check the F2 Sprint results in Barcelona:
1st – Kush Maini (IND/ART Grand Prix)
2nd – Gabriele Mini (ITA/MP Motorsport)
3rd – Nikola Tsolov (BUL/Campos Racing)
4th – Noel León (MEX/Campos Racing)
5th – Colton Herta (USA/Hitech)
6th – Rafael Câmara (BRA/Invicta)
7th – Dino Beganovic (SWE/DAMS)
8th – Alexander Dunne (IRL/Rodin)
9th – Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (THA/ART Grand Prix)
10th – Nico Varrone (ARG/Van Amersfoort)
11th – Sebastian Montoya (COL/Prema)
12th – Oliver Goethe (GER/MP Motorsport)
13th – John Bennett (ENG/Trident)
14th – Ritomo Miyata (JPN/Hitech)
15th – Mari Boya (ESP/Prema)
16th – Emmo Fittipaldi (BRA/AIX Racing)
17th – Rafael Villagómez (MEX/Van Amersfoort)
18th – Martinius Stenshorne (NOR/Rodin)
19th – Laurens van Hoepen (HOL/Trident)
20th – Joshua Durksen (PAR/Invicta)
21st – Roman Bilinski (POL/DAMS)
22nd – Cian Shields (ENG/AIX Racing)
