Beganovic Conquers Chaos for Madring Pole as Three Red Flags Hit Qualifying

Dino Beganovic’s 1:44.331 secured his second Formula 2 pole of 2026 at Madrid’s debut, beating Alex Dunne by 0.230s while Rafael Câmara climbed to third in a crash-filled session.

The Madring does not forgive hesitation. On Friday afternoon, Formula 2’s first qualifying session at Madrid’s new street circuit proved the point in the hardest way possible — three red flags, walls everywhere, and one driver calm enough to put a lap beyond reach.

DAMS Lucas Oil’s Dino Beganovic claimed pole with a 1:44.331, 0.230 seconds clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne. Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara recovered late to third on a 1:44.853, while championship leader Nikola Tsolov qualified fifth on the same 1:44.938 as Martinius Stenshorne, who took fourth.

Walls rewrite the script from the first flying laps

Every car left the pits on Soft tyres as soon as the lane opened. With Free Practice already truncated by Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak’s Turn 19 crash and fire earlier in the day, banking an early representative lap was the priority. Track temperature sat at 52°C — enough to make even a single flying lap a tyre management exercise.

The first red flag arrived almost immediately. ART Grand Prix’s Kush Maini lost control and hit the wall while beginning his first flying lap. Moments earlier, PREMA’s Sebastián Montoya had also made contact, damaging his right-rear suspension and limping toward pit entry. The clock stopped with just under 24 minutes remaining — and barely anyone had a competitive time on the board.

Tsolov leads, then Varrone stops the session again

When the green returned with a little over 22 minutes left, Dunne was among the first to post a representative lap before Tsolov edged him by 0.002s with a 1:46.328. Beganovic looked threatening through the first two sectors but lost time in the final sector, leaving him frustrated with a lap that might have been more.

The second stoppage followed when Van Amersfoort Racing’s Nico Varrone hit the barriers at Turn 19. He was ruled the sole cause of the red flag, with 18 minutes and 47 seconds remaining. Qualifying at a brand-new venue was already becoming a survival contest as much as a speed contest.

Well, that was lively. — Formula 2 official reaction after provisional classification

Beganovic finds the lap — then Bennett brings more chaos

On the third restart the track was still evolving. Dunne jumped back to the top before Beganovic seized control: first a 1:45.182, then a 1:44.578 that opened clear air at the front. The decisive 1:44.331 followed — the lap that would stand as pole.

With around five minutes left, Trident’s John Bennett crashed after going quickest in the first sector and triggered the third red flag. In the scramble that followed, Colton Herta also hit the wall while on a potentially strong lap, ending any late surprise from the American. Beganovic’s time remained untouched.

Title picture shifts before the Feature

Câmara’s third place is the championship story of the afternoon. The Invicta driver arrived in Madrid only 11 points behind Tsolov after Monza; starting ahead of the Campos leader on Sunday puts the Brazilian in position to attack again. Tsolov remains firmly in the fight from fifth, but the margin for error on a circuit this hostile is already thin.

Dunne’s front-row start continues a strong Spanish Friday for Rodin, with teammate Stenshorne fourth. Bilinski backed Beganovic in sixth for DAMS. At the other end of the top ten, Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. locked in tenth — and with it, reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s Sprint.

Inthraphuvasak, still dealing with the aftermath of his Practice crash, did not set a time. Maini, Varrone, Montoya and Bennett all paid heavily for contact with the barriers and will start deep in the field.

Formula 2 returns Saturday for the Sprint, with Beganovic then lining up from pole for Sunday’s Feature. Madrid’s walls have already written the first chapter. The races will write the rest.