Current Championship leader Nikola Tsolov lined up on reverse-grid Pole for Saturday’s F2 Sprint Race at the 2026 Miami GP. Laurens Van Hoepen joined him on the front row, with Oliver Goethe in third.
As the formation lap began, it was disaster for Kush Maini, Sunday’s polesitter, who stalled on the grid. He was wheeled into the pitlane for the start of the race.
Lights Out
As the lights went out, Tsolov led the field from Pole.
Joshua Durksen made up a position into third, already challenging Van Hoepen for second.
Home-hero Colton Herta made a bold dive on the inside of Turn 16, taking P13 from John Bennett.
Furthermore, Nicolas Varrone and Alex Dunne were also able to improve into fourth and fifth respectively as Goethe fell into tenth.
With DRS enabled on lap two, Van Hoepen was on the gearbox of Tsolov, with Durksen also part of the fight.
A Fight for the Lead
By lap three, Varrone was also in tow, with only 1.5s covering the top four.
Van Hoepen forced Tsolov to defend into Turn 17, however the Red Bull Junior was able to retain P1. Dunne also joined the fight.
Just behind, Gabriele Mini was able to defend sixth from Martinius Stenshorne into the first corner.
On lap five, Durksen successfully made the dive for second position into Turn 17.
However, Van Hoepen swiftly took back the position just one lap later after an error from the Invicta Racing driver.
From Lap 10
Tsolov continued to lead, however was unable to escape DRS range from Van Hoepen behind. The top four were covered by just over a second.
The yellow flag was briefly waved as Rafael Villagomez and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak seemingly filtered into pitlane. Both drivers later retired.
Herta was fighting Roman Bilinski for P12 yet was unable to make an impact until lap 13, with the Polish driver going deep into Turn 11.
A Change of Lead
Lap 13 saw Van Hoepen take the lead into Turn 17.
The yellow flag was briefly waved once again as Maini also took the decision to retire.
Durksen was defending hard to hold Varrone back in the fight for third, leaving the top two to extend their lead 2.3s ahead.
Just three laps later, Tsolov regained the lead once again into Turn 17.
Further down the field, Herta was seemingly struggling, losing three positions after a costly lock-up.
Five Laps Remaining
Dunne took fourth place from Varrone and was immediately onto the back of Durksen for the final podium position.
A big lock-up saw the Irish driver take third momentarily, before Durksen retook the position.
Elsewhere, Enzo Fittipaldi was the fourth driver to retire from the race.
With four laps remaining, just 6.4s separated the top nine.
Tsolov was fighting hard to keep Van Hoepen behind him, with Dunne inching increasingly closer to the both of them. The Trident driver dived to the inside at Turn 17, but the Campos driver was able to get back through on the run to the first corner.
The Final Lap
It was a three-way fight with one lap remaining, with one second covering the podium positions.
Remarkably, Van Hoepen took the lead into Turn 17, dramatically weaving to try and break the tow.
However, Tsolov was able to round him at Turn 17, retaking the lead to win the 2026 Miami Sprint Race.
Nikola Tsolov stood on the top step on the podium for Campos Racing following the F2 Sprint Race at the 2026 Miami GP. Laurens Van Hoepen took P2, just 0.1s behind him for Trident. Alex Dunne took the final podium position for Rodin Motorsport.
Featured Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool