Maini Tops Baku Free Practice as Title Contenders Crowd the Front Ahead of Double Quali

ART Grand Prix’s Kush Maini sealed a late 1:56.532 to lead Round 12’s only Practice, with Alexander Dunne and championship leader Nikola Tsolov next and Rafael Câmara fifth after Gabriele Minì’s post-session disqualification — all before a unique double Qualifying this afternoon.

Formula 2 opened its supersized Azerbaijan weekend on a green Baku City Circuit — and ART Grand Prix’s Kush Maini left the morning looking like the man to beat. The Indian driver topped the 45-minute Free Practice with a final-lap 1:56.532, 0.204 seconds clear of title contender Alexander Dunne, with championship leader Nikola Tsolov third as the field prepared for two consecutive Qualifying sessions later on Thursday.

It was a morning built for nerves as much as for lap time. Baku’s walls, a dirty surface and a Virtual Safety Car interruption compressed the learning window on a weekend that offers roughly 67 points across Sprint, Feature Race 1 and Feature Race 2. Maini was always in the fight; he simply saved the best for last.

Green track, VSC, and a late scramble

Practice began at 10:00 local time (08:00 Paris) on a relatively green street circuit. Maini set the early marker — first a cautious 2:02.639, then stepped progressively into the 2:00s and 1:58s as rubber went down. The session’s rhythm broke with about 15 minutes elapsed when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed after Invicta’s Joshua Dürksen found the runoff at Turn 3. Oliver Goethe also ran deep at Turn 5; both were left on the sidelines unable to rejoin, finishing 20th and 21st with only a handful of laps.

When green-flag running resumed, the order kept flipping. Martinius Stenshorne briefly led before Maini answered. Tsolov slotted into second with 20 minutes to go, roughly three tenths off the ART car. Rodin’s Dunne then took control mid-session on a 1:57.478 and later a 1:57.044, with Câmara and Maini trading places behind him as the track improved.

Into the final six minutes the timing screens lit up again. Gabriele Minì flashed to the top for a few seconds before Dunne restored himself on a 1:56.810, then 1:56.736. Maini’s last flyer — 1:56.532 — settled the morning.

“It was really strong. I think all session we were really strong. It’s a good feeling after Madrid obviously. We were P1 in Madrid as well after Practice and didn’t end up racing really. So, nice to be back here in the front… practice means nothing really. So, we’ll just take the confidence in the quali and try and re-deliver. I mean, the car is very good.” — Kush Maini, ART Grand Prix

Title fight picture: Tsolov third, Câmara fifth, Minì DSQ, Dunne second

Coming into Baku the standings read Tsolov 177, Câmara 170 (−7), Minì 153 and Dunne 139. On the timesheet that hierarchy was scrambled — and then rewritten by the stewards.

Tsolov’s third place, 0.289s off Maini, was a clean statement from the championship leader: pace available, data banked, no drama. Dunne’s second, just two tenths behind Maini after leading deep into the session, underlines why the Rodin driver arrives as the hungriest of the chasers with a 38-point deficit and a weekend packed with scoring opportunities.

Câmara ended fifth on the official classification at +0.778s — solid rather than spectacular, but close enough that Invicta will treat Qualifying as the real exam. Minì had completed the provisional top five on track before being disqualified: Car 9 could not provide the required 0.8 kg fuel sample after the session, a breach of Article 6.3.1 of the 2026 FIA Formula 2 Technical Regulations. The stewards found no justifiable reason and excluded the MP Motorsport entry from the results, promoting Câmara and everyone behind him one place.

What it means before the double Quali

Baku 2026 is not a normal Formula 2 weekend. Free Practice is followed by two consecutive 20-minute Qualifying sessions: Q1 sets the grids for Friday’s Sprint and Feature Race 1; Q2 sets Saturday’s Feature Race 2. Each pole is worth two points, and both Features carry the standard points allocation — a haul that can swing a championship in three days.

Maini’s morning will mean little if ART cannot convert it when the track evolves this afternoon. He already knows that story from Madrid, where he also topped Practice and then watched the weekend unravel. “Quali is next and practice means nothing really,” he said — the correct read on a street circuit that rewards one clean flying lap more than a morning spreadsheet.

Still, the cluster at the front matters. Four of the top five on the revised sheet are either Maini’s ART package or the title principals (Dunne, Tsolov, Câmara), with Herta’s Hitech car a genuine interloper in fourth after his first meaningful Baku mileage. For Tsolov, protecting the seven-point cushion starts this afternoon. For Câmara and Dunne, the double Quali is the first lever to pull on a weekend built for chaos.

The walls have been introduced. The grid is still unwritten.