Barcelona, Spain delivered in full last weekend. Strategy masterclass, a penalty that reshuffled a championship and a driver finally converting pole position into the victory it deserved.
Across both the FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 feeder series, Spain served up the kind of racing that makes the support categories worth watching.
F2 Sprint Race: Maini dominates, Herta heartbreak
Kush Maini took a commanding win in the F2 Sprint Race, launching off the front row to pass polesitter Noel León and leading every lap from there. The ART Grand Prix and Alpine Academy driver managed his Pirelli tyres carefully to take the chequered flag 7.2 seconds clear of Gabriele Minì.
This was his first victory of the 2026 season. It was a clean afternoon for Maini, but behind him it was anything but. Minì put in an impressive performance, starting from seventh on the grid and making great progress through the pack in the early laps before making a move on title rival Nikola Tsolov stick to finish second.
Tsolov rounded out the podium in third.
The real story, though, was Colton Herta. The former IndyCar driver had done everything right for 25 laps and was on course for his first F2 podium – until a lock-up into Turn 5 on the final lap sent him through the gravel and back to fifth. He branded the error “unacceptable” over team radio. It was the kind of moment that tends to define a season in the telling.
León was classified fourth, with Rafael Câmara, Dino Beganovic and Alex Dunne completing the points places down to eighth.
F2 Feature Race: Câmara bounces back, Tsolov penalised
Câmara converted pole position into his first F2 victory with an impressive and strategically astute drive on Sunday. The Invicta Racing and Ferrari Driver Academy talent lost the lead at the very start – Dunne taking it into Turn 1.
What followed was a masterclass in tyre management. Câmara extended his first stint on the soft tyres on Lap 22, far longer than any of his rivals could manage, and rejoined in fifth after pitting. He then hunted everyone down.
It was sweet redemption. Câmara’s mistake in the Monaco Feature Race had forced him into retirement when he had been fighting for victory. There was no such error in Barcelona.
Behind him, the drama was far from over. Nikola Tsolov ran an alternative strategy; starting on the harder compound before switching to softs late, and charged through the field to finish second on the road. However, the stewards had other ideas.
Tsolov was found to have completed a pass on Minì while off the circuit through Turns 10 and 11, in breach of Article 27.3 of the FIA F2 Sporting Regulations. Notably, the stewards acknowledged the infringement was marginal. It made no difference to the outcome. A five-second penalty dropped Tsolov to fourth, promoting Dunne to second and Minì to third.
F2 Championship after Barcelona: Minì leads on 86 points, Tsolov second on 80, Câmara third on 69.
F3 Sprint Race: Wharton delivers for PREMA
James Wharton claimed victory in Saturday’s F3 Sprint Race, holding off Freddie Slater to win for PREMA Racing: the team’s first victory since Spa-Francorchamps in 2024.
Starting from second on the reverse grid, the Australian took the lead on Lap five and managed two Safety Car restarts before taking the flag. Slater followed in P2 for Trident, with DAMS Lucas Oil’s Gerrard Xie completing the podium in third.
The bigger story was what the Sprint took away from the championship picture. Ugochukwu entered the weekend as the sole standings leader, but his race ended in the gravel at Turn 3 after attempting a switchback on Enzo Deligny. It was his first scoreless result since Melbourne.
Slater took full advantage – and by the end of Saturday, the two were level on points.
F3 Feature Race: Naël finally gets what he deserved
If the Sprint was defined by drama, the Feature Race belonged entirely to one driver. Théophile Naël claimed his maiden F3 victory in Barcelona Feature Race; and after three consecutive pole positions without a win to show for them, it was long overdue.
The Campos Racing driver led from lights to flag, holding off early pressure from Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, who crossed the line second for his maiden F3 podium. Ugochukwu recovered from his Sprint misfortune to complete the podium in third. Across the full Barcelona weekend, Naël scored 30 points – 25 for the win, two for pole and three for eighth in the Sprint.
F3 Championship after Barcelona: Ugochukwu leads on 58 points, Naël second on 52, Del Pino third on 48. Campos Racing extend their Teams’ Championship advantage to 27 points over Van Amersfoot Racing.
The bigger picture of the Feeder Series in Spain
The feeder series round in Spain did what it intended to do: it clarified some things and complicated everything else. In F2, Minì holds the championship lead but Câmara showed emphatically that he belonged in this conversation.
In F3, Ugochukwu is still out front, but Naël, armed with pace and now a win, is right on his heels.
Spielberg is next. Neither championship is settled. Not even close.
Feature Image: Feeder Series
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