As the only Norwegian currently competing in the Formula 1 support paddock, Martinius Stenshorne faces a certain level of expectation to become Norway’s next F1 prospect. But despite his ice-cool demeanour, Stenshorne found himself on something of a hot streak in F2 when he joined the Feeder Series Podcast a few weeks ago. 

By Thomas Groves

Stenshorne’s first full season has made headlines thus far, underscored by his first F2 win in Canada last month. 

“Yeah, it feels very good. I think we’ve had very good potential all year, so to finally get the win feels very good,” he told the Feeder Series Podcast. “I think we finally showed now in Canada what we were capable of.” 

The win capped off a landmark weekend for Stenshorne, who had taken his first podium a day earlier on a dry track. Sunday’s feature race, however, was anything but dry, making for quite the display.

“The feature race was quite tricky with the rain before,” he said. “We didn’t really know exactly how the conditions were going to be. We were on slicks [and] it was quite tricky to get the tyres and brakes up to temperature, but we did well. [I] took it a bit careful in the first couple laps, but then from midway through, we had good pace and managed to come home first.”

And all of this came on a weekend when Nikola Tsolov and Rafael Câmara – two of F2’s foremost drivers, who had resumed their title rivalry from F3 in 2025 – failed to score in either race, meaning Stenshorne was flung into the title fight by being launched to fourth in the standings. 

Adding to the Montréal magic is the fact that F2 was never meant to race in Canada at all. Conflict in the Middle East necessitated a calendar reshuffling that brought North America into the picture. Now, having experienced the sights, sounds and indeed local cuisine of Montréal, Canada – including BeaverTail, a local delicacy much sweeter than it sounds – would the Norwegian welcome a return to a country with a climate much like his homeland’s?

At this, Stenshorne offers a rare moment of enthusiasm.

“Yeah, of course! I really enjoyed it, so to come back would be good, hopefully in a category higher,” he said.

That mention of a higher category is key, for Stenshorne was once a member of McLaren’s driver academy, which had turned 2019 academy graduate Lando Norris into a fully fledged world champion last year, and previously mentored Lewis Hamilton on the path to his first F1 title. The Norwegian could’ve followed in their footsteps, but results that were deemed dissatisfactory results led him to be frozen out of the academy as F3 headed into hibernation post-Monza.

“We had some goals for ourselves, results-wise, and unfortunately it wasn’t achieved, so they decided not to continue anymore,” he revealed. “I knew it after the last round of F3, and going into Baku I already knew I would not be supported anymore.”

Even so, Stenshorne reflects on his time at McLaren as positive.

“The experience was great. Driving with the papaya colours, the car was bright, so you could easily see us, and representing a historic brand like them is always quite cool,” he said. “Unfortunately it didn’t end up like I wanted. I wish we could’ve done more into the F1 stuff. It just wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully we’ll get a chance somewhere else.”

For a rookie with an admittedly lukewarm CV – his best placement in any junior single-seater series prior to his F2 campaign was second to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in FRegional Europe in 2023 – his immediate F2 form had been something of a surprise to many in the paddock. 

“It was of course a bit unfortunate that we didn’t manage to take any more points from the first couple of weekends, but I think we finally showed now in Canada what we were capable of,” he said. “Not only this year, but last year in Baku, in both races we could’ve been on the podium. It took a bit longer than I wanted, of course, but to finally have it was really good.”

That Stenshorne brings Baku up reveals another level to his journey so far. Having been thrown in the deep end for the last three F2 rounds in 2025, Stenshorne adapted quickly, even if the results didn’t necessarily show it.

At first glance, three non-finishes make for grim reading and a poor first impression amid the calibre of drivers a series such as F2 possesses. 

But taking into account that before his race-ending technical issue, Stenshorne had been running in second after outqualifying Trident teammate Laurens Van Hoepen by 1.666 seconds, things look very different indeed. Only a mechanical failure and a race-ending incident – for which Pepe Martí was handed a 10-second time penalty – kept Stenshorne from scoring points. 

That points finish finally came at the first race in Lusail, his first with Rodin ahead of his full-season campaign in 2026.

“It was really good to have a little bit of experience last year,” he said. “Going into Baku without any practice or time in the car was of course difficult, but I felt quite comfortable in the car straight away and the car felt good. I think without the issues we had there as well, we could’ve been on the podium.” 

Really, it was like a London bus: Once the first podium finally arrived eight months later, the first win followed immediately after. A day after finishing third in the sprint race, Stenshorne put on a superb display of driving talent in a wet and wild feature race to finish ahead of Rodin teammate Alex Dunne, of whom he is a good friend. 

But that’s not all, as the 20-year-old reveals plenty more about his journey up the junior ladder on the latest episode of the Feeder Series Podcast with Cliona Sheerin, available now on across all major platforms.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency