Beganovic seals F2 pole with final lap for DAMS Lucas Oil

Dino Beganovic left it to the final lap to secure the first Aramco Pole Position Award of 2026, setting a 1:28.695 for the top spot.  

The DAMS Lucas Oil driver delivered an improvement in his final attempt to beat Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne and Alexander Dunne to pole, the pairing finishing second and third respectively. 

Beganovic laid down the initial benchmark and a 1:29.953, 0.094s quicker than Joshua Duerksen in P2 and his Invicta Racing teammate Rafael Câmara in third. 

Stenshorne took over in provisional pole until Nikola Tsolov delivered an improvement of his own to go to P1 with a 1:29.381. 

The Red Flags were out following a snap for Mari Boya at Turn 12 that left the PREMA Racing driver in the barrier. He was out of the car and OK, and the session resumed soon afterwards. 

Qualifying resumed with 20 minutes left but after filtering back out onto track, drivers returned to the pitlane for a fresh set of Pirelli tyres without posting improvements.  

Drivers rejoined the circuit once more with 12 minutes to go, but before any times could be posted, Gabriele Minì pulled to the side of the track with an issue on his car, bringing out the Red Flags once again. 

Due to the delays, the session ran to time, leaving just three minutes on the clock as Qualifying resumed, enough time for just one final lap  

Provisional pole changed hands three times over in the final seconds, but it was Beganovic that found the improvement to take top spot for DAMS on a 1:28.695. 

He pipped the Rodin Motorsport teammates Stenshorne and Dunne, who both in turn had taken the top spot prior to the Swede’s final attempt. 

Noel León secured fourth ahead of Tsolov, who fell to fifth by the chequered flag. Câmara was sixth ahead of Kush Maini, Oliver Goethe, Duerksen and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in P10. 

The first race of the 2026 season takes place on Saturday, with the Sprint Race set to begin at 14:10 local time. 

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Jarrod Partridge

Jarrod Partridge is the Co-Founder of F1 Chronicle and an FIA accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following Formula 1. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered F1 races at circuits around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every race report, driver profile, and technical analysis he writes.

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