F2 Canada Wrap; Stenshorne leads Rodin 1-2, Maiden win for León, Minì extends championship lead

Stenshorne leads Rodin 1-2 in Montreal Feature

Martinius Stenshorne claimed a sensational maiden F2 victory during the Montreal Feature Race, leading home Rodin teammate Alexander Dunne for a one-two finish.

Pole-sitter Laurens van Hoepen came under pressure at the start into Turn 1, with Nikola Tsolov sweeping around the outside to take the lead. However, the Dutchman fought back and retook the position from Tsolov into Turn 3.

Van Hoepen’s race later came to an abrupt end after crashing into the Wall of Champions, triggering the first of several Safety Car periods amid a race filled with incidents.

Stenshorne worked his way through the field while drivers cycled through varying strategies. Dunne also recovered strongly to finish second after losing time during the pit cycle.

Championship leader Gabriele Minì completed the podium, while the race finished behind the Safety Car following late contact between Oliver Goethe and Ritomo Miyata.

León takes impressive maiden F2 Sprint win

Noel León also secured his maiden F2 victory during the Canadian weekend, producing a composed drive in an incident-filled Sprint Race.

The Mexican recovered from an early setback and managed two Safety Car restarts to secure victory ahead of Minì and Stenshorne.

Polesitter Minì made a clean launch initially, while León made slight contact with Joshua Duerksen in the fight for second. The Invicta driver received a five-second penalty, taking him out of contention.

Following a Safety Car restart caused by an incident involving Tsolov, Stenshorne and John Bennett, León closed in on Minì before making the decisive pass for the lead on Lap 18.

Any momentum was then halted by another Safety Car period and a subsequent Virtual Safety Car interruption. Dunne initially crossed the line in second but dropped out of podium contention after receiving a time penalty.

Penalties galore

An incident-heavy Montreal weekend also kept the stewards busy.

Mari Boya received a 10-second time penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly approaching the detection zone during the Sprint Race, triggering a three-car collision.

Duerksen was handed a three-place grid penalty after his clash with León in the Sprint, as the Paraguayan could not serve his original time penalty due to retiring.

Tsolov received a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while battling Goethe through Turns 13 and 14 during the Feature Race.

Goethe was then caught in another incident late in the race involving Miyata. The German accepted primary responsibility and received a five-second penalty.

Fittipaldi Jr earns first F2 points

The grandson of F1 legend Emerson Fittipaldi described his maiden F2 points finish as a major step forward after securing the breakthrough result in Montreal.

Fittipaldi narrowly missed the top 10 in qualifying but delivered a strong drive to finish seventh on the road before post-race penalties promoted the Brazilian to fifth.

The AIX Racing driver started ninth on the Sprint grid and became involved in a tightly contested midfield battle as incidents and Safety Car periods reshaped the order. His pace kept him in contention and allowed him to capitalise on opportunities ahead.

“So just really thankful to God and to the team to be able to make such a good race car for me to race today and to be able to finally finish in the points is fantastic,” remarked the rookie post-race.

“Well the first time racing in the front pack in Formula 2 is never easy. These guys especially in the front are fantastic drivers and it was just an incredible opportunity to be racing wheel to wheel with them.”

Minì’s championship lead extends

After holding a slender one-point lead following Miami, Minì left Montreal with an expanded advantage over Rafael Câmara and Tsolov in the championship standings.

The 21-year-old Italian secured two podium finishes, extending his lead to 21 points, while Câmara and Tsolov endured difficult weekends and lost ground.

Stenshorne’s Feature Race victory moved him into fourth place and level on 35 points with Tsolov. Meanwhile, León, van Hoepen and Dunne all sit within six points of Câmara in second.

F2 is set for a busy run of races, with Monaco scheduled for June 4–7, followed by Barcelona and Austria before another three rounds in July.

Written by

Jawad Yaqub

An eCommerce Specialist by day and reporting on F1 by night. Jawad is passionate about motorsport, having provided accredited F1 coverage for more than a decade. Live blogging (almost) every grand prix too since 2014, as well as articles on the Supercars Championship. Also keen on sustainability, photography, collecting vinyl, (trying to) expertly barbeque and learning to Dad.

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