Invicta Racing swept round 10 of the 2026 Formula 2 season, with Joshua Dürksen taking an impressive double victory as his teammate Rafael Câmara completed a 1-2 for the British outfit. Feeder Series reveals five things we learned from the past weekend at Monza.

By Daniele Spadi

Though Rodin Motorsport went fastest in practice with Alex Dunne, Invicta Racing were quick to overturn that come qualifying, as Câmara got the better of his teammate to lock out the front row for the reigning teams’ champions.

On Saturday, Dürksen completed a strong comeback to win from seventh on the grid, with John Bennett and Oliver Goethe rounding out an unlikely podium. Sunday, on the other hand, was a showdown between the two Invictas, as Dürksen was able to consolidate his advantage over Câmara during the pit stop phase, though he had to defend until the very last turn to take a record-equalling eighth win in the series. The Brazilian settled for second, with the podium rounded out by Noel León.

• Pre-weekend roundtable: F2’s Inthraphuvasak, Van Hoepen talk maintaining momentum after the summer break
• Qualifying report and quotes: Câmara heads Invicta front-row lockout in Monza with fifth F2 pole of 2026
• Sprint race report and quotes: Dürksen survives late restart to snatch seventh F2 success in Monza sprint
• Feature race report and quotes: Dürksen sees off teammate Câmara to secure double F2 win at Monza

1. Invicta reigns supreme in Monza

Invicta Racing have always been forces to be reckoned with in Monza. In 2024, Gabriel Bortoleto won the feature race from last on the grid; in 2025, Leonardo Fornaroli triumphed in the sprint; and in 2026, the team scored a flawless double victory, courtesy of Joshua Dürksen.

After missing out on pole by just 0.057s, the driver from Paraguay was virtually faultless across both races. In the sprint, a terrific start propelled him to fourth, before he took the lead on lap nine. A late safety car made it more difficult for him, but the 22-year-old held his nerves to take win number seven of his career.

That statistic changed less than 24 hours later, when Dürksen took victory in the feature race too. A perfect start vaulted him to first before he engaged in a three-lap battle with polesitter Câmara. Dürksen elected to pit at the earliest possible opportunity on lap six  – a choice that proved to be the right one as he emerged in front of his teammate once both had changed tyres.

Dürksen was then able to defend from his Brazilian rival to take a record-equalling eighth win in his F2 career, becoming just the fifth driver to win both races in a single weekend and the second to do so this season after Nikola Tsolov did the double in Silverstone.

Câmara could be  satisfied with his second-place finish in the feature race, though contact with Nicolás Varrone on Saturday prevented him from scoring points on Saturday. Still, taking both pole position and the fastest lap the day after enabled him to score a valuable 21 points in the championship, meaning he now sits in second, 11 points off the lead.

2. An unlikely top three on Saturday…

On Saturday, Dürksen shared the podium with two drivers that were not among the favourites to step on it ahead of the 10th race weekend of the season. Behind him in second was John Bennett, who consistently challenged the Paraguayan driver for the win across the entire length of the sprint.

Having started from pole, the Briton was quick to build a two-second lead before a safety car on lap five brought everyone behind back into contention. He was then overtaken by Dürksen on lap nine, and despite trying his best to retake the lead in the last two laps, he was forced to settle for second. Still, this marked Bennett’s second podium this season after he took his maiden victory in the series at the Red Bull Ring in the sprint.

He followed up his strong form on Saturday by finishing fourth on Sunday from 10th on the grid. With that result, he took home 20 points, more than doubling his season tally.

Third in the sprint race was Oliver Goethe, who had joined Bennett on the front row of the grid. The German has had a challenging time in his second full-time F2 season, claiming just three points finishes before coming to Monza. That did, however, include a maiden podium in the feature race at the Red Bull Ring, where he claimed third with the fastest lap.

Goethe had to fight hard against Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Martinius Stenshorne to claim his second podium of the season, but he did so brilliantly. The German was therefore able to cross the finish line in third, and he took two more points with a ninth-place finish on Sunday. He also finished ahead of title-contending teammate Gabriele Minì in both races..

3. …while Invicta and Campos sweep Sunday’s podium

On the other hand, the feature race podium was much more predictable. With Dürksen and Câmara sharing the front row of the grid, a fight between them for the win – especially on  a track that has been very kind to Invicta Racing in the past – was almost inevitable.

Behind them, third belonged to Campos Racing’s Noel León. The Mexican rookie has become a stable presence in the championship’s top five, having taken three wins this season and one additional podium prior to this weekend.

The 21-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico, was excellent across the weekend, taking fourth in the sprint and scoring podium number five of his 2026 campaign on Sunday. In fact, León seemed to be destined to play a pivotal role in the fight for the win by end of the feature, using Câmara’s pace in the final stages to be pulled towards Dürksen himself.

Ultimately, the Mexican was unable to challenge the two Invicta Racing teammates, settling for third. Though he stays in fifth in the drivers’ standings, he has now closed the gap to fourth-placed Alex Dunne to just four points.

4. A weekend to forget for Herta

The biggest story ahead of the 2026 F2 season was arguably Colton Herta’s career-pivoting move to join the series after seven years of IndyCar experience. The American, pursuing his F1 dream as part of the Cadillac project, balanced both commitments on track this weekend, filling his Friday schedule with his third free practice one outing for the American outfit between F2 practice and qualifying.

Herta’s trip to Italy, however, was one to forget. In F2 practice, the American spun out at the second Lesmo corner on his 10th lap of the session, hitting the barriers and reporting extensive damage. A little later, his 1 experience also came to a halt quickly as his Cadillac experienced technical troubles, forcing the 26-year-old to stop on track with only five laps completed.

Qualifying did not improve his morale, and as a troublesome Friday came to a close, the American walked away from the session down in 20th. On Saturday, he was able to climb up to 15th, with the hopes of gaining even more ground in the feature.

And that dream did not materialise either. On lap 11, Herta collided with Sebastián Montoya at Curva Alboreto and came off worse, spinning out of the race. While his former teammates and rivals celebrate the end of the 2026 IndyCar season at Laguna Seca, Herta will be ruing another deeply challenging weekend in what has been a troublesome rookie F2 campaign. He has finished in the points-paying positions just five times so far to sit 17th in the drivers’ standings with 26 points to his name.

5. A three-way fight for the title?

With just four rounds to go, three drivers have emerged as the clear title favourites. Championship leader Nikola Tsolov, who already boasts six wins this season, is still in front, though his gap was nearly halved this weekend.

A fifth place in the sprint and a seventh in the feature gave him only 10 points from the weekend, not enough to extend his gap.

After dominating the early stages of the European season, Tsolov has not finished on the podium in the past two rounds, giving Câmara plenty of chances to close the gap.

The Brazilian has duly taken them, especially since  his feature race victory in Spa. He has taken four of the last six pole positions and finished on the podium in the past three feature races too. Though he was unable to triumph in Monza, a second-place finish enabled him to cut the gap down to just 11 points.

Third is Gabriele Minì, though the Italian has nothing to smile about after his home weekend yielded zero points. The 21-year-old, who held the lead in the opening stages of the season, qualified 11th and fought for points throughout the two races but fell short on both occasions, finishing 10th in the sprint and 11th in the feature. He is now 30 points behind Tsolov in the championship.

Behind them, Dunne and León are still in it, but the gap to Tsolov sits at 59 points for the former and 63 for the latter. Anything is still possible with four race weekends still scheduled on the calendar – though the uncertainty around the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi means time is of the essence for any championship aspirants.

Results and standings after round 10 at Monza

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Rafael Câmara, 1:31.326	Joshua Dürksen, +0.057s	Alex Dunne, +0.146s
Sprint race 21 laps)	Joshua Dürksen, 36:38.663	John Bennett, +1.263s	Oliver Goethe, +1.818s
Feature race (30 laps)	Joshua Dürksen, 51:05.855	Rafael Câmara, +0.424s	Noel León, +4.647s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Nikola Tsolov, 177	Campos Racing, 291
P2	Rafael Câmara, 166	Invicta Racing, 244
P3	Gabriele Minì, 147	MP Motorsport, 184
P4	Alex Dunne, 118	Rodin Motorsport, 180
P5	Noel León, 114	ART Grand Prix, 151
P6	Kush Maini, 88	Trident, 104
P7	Dino Beganovic, 79	DAMS, 103
P8	Joshua Dürksen, 78	Hitech, 70
P9	Laurens Van Hoepen, 66	Van Amersfoort Racing, 53
P10	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, 63	Prema Racing, 40

Read our takeaways from the previous round here.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency