Noel León snatches late lead on day 1 of F2 testing

Noel León and Campos Racing ended the first day of 2026 FIA Formula 2 pre-season testing on a high note, with the Mexican driver posting a 1:24.370 late in the afternoon to claim the fastest overall time. His lap put him comfortably ahead of Nicolas Varrone of Van Amersfoort Racing and Invicta Racing’s Joshua Duerksen, who occupied second and third respectively.

The morning session was characterized by the usual rhythm of installation laps and systems checks as teams shook down their machinery for the new campaign. MP Motorsport initially set the benchmark with Oliver Goethe and Gabriele Minì leading the way for much of the early running. However, the momentum was briefly halted by the day’s first Red Flag when Nikola Tsolov came to a stop at the end of the main straight in his Campos car. Once the track was cleared, the final hour turned into a flurry of improvements. While Minì briefly moved back to the top, it was the Rodin Motorsport duo of Martinius Stenshorne and Alexander Dunne who stole the show in the closing stages. Stenshorne ended the morning fastest with a 1:25.437, just 0.015s ahead of his teammate.

When the afternoon session got underway, the focus shifted toward high-fuel simulations and race-pace evaluations. Stenshorne picked up right where he left off by setting a 1:25.712, but the leaderboard remained relatively static for several hours as drivers worked through their long-run programs. The quiet was eventually broken by a second Red Flag after Joshua Duerksen spun at Turn 3. Upon the restart, the Invicta driver switched to the Soft Pirelli compound and jumped to the top of the screens with a 1:25.274.

The final fifteen minutes saw a shift back to performance runs, providing León with the opportunity to set his blistering benchmark that eclipsed the rest of the field by over six-tenths of a second. Varrone also made a late move to secure P2 before a final Red Flag, triggered by Sébastian Montoya sliding into the gravel at Turn 1, brought an early end to the day’s action. With the session not resumed, the top ten was rounded out by Ritomo Miyata, Stenshorne, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, Dunne, Rafael Câmara, Tsolov, and Colton Herta.

Day 1 Combined Standings (Top 10)