The first session of Formula Two in 2026 got under way at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit. There was much speculation ahead of the 45 minute session, with notable names moving over from series such as IndyCar and the World Endurance Championship.
Mixed leaders early on
Practice started under a Virtual Safety Car but as soon as it ended, many drivers were setting impressive times. Sebastian Montoya set a 1:53.133 which was quickly beaten by Dino Beganovic with a 1:47.239.
Several drivers continued to work their way around the circuit, Tsolov set a time of 1:47.676. The first driver to break into the 1m 30s was Beganovic with a 1:33.462. Ttimes continued to drop with Montoya, Mari Boya and Joshua Dürksen beating the DAMS Lucas Oil driver’s time.
Many minor incidents
Similarly to F3, F2 Practice was littered with minor incidents. There was a moment between rookie Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. and Dino Beganovic, which is due to be investigated after the session. Boya also suffered when he went deep. An altercation between John Bennett and Gabriele Minì, resulted in the Italian losing his front wing end plate.
The first red flag
As the times continued to fall, Tsolov set a 1:30.178. A yellow flag was displayed before being switched to a red flag for Hitech’s Colton Herta who hit the wall and was stopped in the middle of the track near Turn 10.
The green flag was shown which meant that the session could resume. Immediately, Minì was on the pace, setting a 1:30.161. Noel León beat this with a 1:30.123.
The second major incident
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, Joshua Dürksen and Rafael Câmara all set impressive times but, once again, Minì emerged on top, setting a 1:29.137.
For the second time, a yellow flag was flown but this time at Turn 12 for Inthraphuvasak who had hit one of the tyre walls. This became a red flag with around seven minutes left in the session.
Upon his return to the pits, Minì faced an issue and has to stop his car before he reached the pit entry.
When the session resumed, nobody could beat the 1:29.137 that the MP Motorsport driver had set.
Attention now shifts to qualifying, taking place at 14:55 local time. The fight for pole position is set to be thrilling, with all many possible scenarios.