Formula 2 report: Stenshorne takes first win as F2 gets messy in Canada

Championship leader and Red Bull academy driver Nikola Tsolov tussled with Laurens van Hoepen in the early exchanges, but both ended up crashing. Alongside incidents involving Enzo Fittipaldi Jr, Dino Beganovic, and Oliver Goethe, this saw no fewer than four safety cars being brought out across the main race. 

In mixed conditions, where F2’s youngsters were slipping up left, right, and center, it was Stenshorne who kept his cool to inherit P1 from a sliding Roman Bilinski at the hairpin. In tandem with teammate Alex Dunne, he built a late gap up front and held on to take his first victory in F2. 

Having suffered double DNFs in the opening two rounds, Rodin sporting director Benn Huntingford praised his drivers for navigating a complicated race (that saw them double stack under the safety car) and deliver a resounding 1-2 in Montreal. 

Huntingford said: "He [Stenshorne] had good pace all weekend, and then the race just panned out well. It was fortunate with the safety car timing; we managed to get through the pit stops, getting them both in and out in good time. He made some good overtakes for the win.

“For Alex it's always difficult when you've got to stop both drivers, and when the safety car opportunity comes, there's not much you can do other than stack them up in the pits. Which inevitably takes a little bit longer for one of the drivers.

“But it was still better than stopping under the green flag. In the end, Alex was still in a reasonable position and was able to make his way forward as well.”

In the opening stages, Tsolov and van Hoepen looked nailed on for a 1-2. The pair swapped back and forth as Formula 3 champion Rafael Camara made his way through the field like a one-man wrecking ball. At one point, he even returned a place to Gabriele Mini for overtaking off-track, only to snatch it straight back at the next corner. 

Then things got really crazy. Van Hoepen crashed from the lead, colliding with the wall of champions. John Bennett then hit Rafael Villagomez in the pits and Fittipaldi Jr. crashed on the pit exit. After these shenanigans, Bilinski inherited first place. 

Stenshorne and Tsolov (who also pitted during the chaos) fought back past Maini on the restart, but the latter was tagged on the way through. 

As Tsolov tumbled down the order, Camara broke the front right steering arm of Villagomez in an attempt to barge through for P5, and spun out after a clumsy move on Beganovic. As conditions worsened, Bilinski lost the lead to Stenshorne, Josh Durksen spun Ritomo Miyata, and Beganovic broke down, retiring from P2. 

Dunne grabbed second from Mini late on, as Mari Boya crashed from P13 and Miyata made contact with Goethe, causing even more safety car drama. Ultimately, all this unfolded behind Stenshorne and an unusually compliant Dunne, who coasted home behind his teammate to cue celebrations at Rodin. 

In the sprint, a super aggressive Durksen nearly launched from P5 to P2 off the line; only he tagged Noel Leon, forcing him to fall back and settle for P3. He said that Villagomez pushed him wide and he “had no other choice,” but replays showed otherwise. It was an overly ambitious start, earning him a 5-second penalty. 

After Sebastian Montoya continued his poor run of form, spinning into the wall of champions, Durksen scrapped on with Leon at the restart. While the pair squabbled, Tsolov knocked Stenshorne into Bennett at the hairpin, causing him to fall down the order and lose a potential season’s best fifth place finish. 

Mini defended hard from Leon on the next safety car restart, as Durksen, Villagomez, and Stenshorne battled for the final podium position. Sadly, this exciting battle was put to an end by Dunne, who wiped out Durksen at the hairpin. Leon then caught Mini unaware, snatching the lead at the penultimate corner. 

Leon took off on the subsequent safety car restart. Stenshorne seemingly dropped to P5 after trying to pass Villagomez for P3, only for the latter to hit the barrier and put an end to his own race. Dunne and Tsolov then ended up with 10-second penalties anyway, promoting Stenshorne back to the podium in yet another wild F2 outing.