- Swede arrives in Azerbaijan fresh off dominant Madrid win
- Unique three-race format awaits field on expanded F2 weekend
Dino Beganovic returns to the scene of his maiden FIA Formula 2 Championship victory this weekend on an emotional high as he bids to carry the momentum of Madrid onto the high-speed streets of Baku.
The return to Azerbaijan marks a special moment for Beganovic, 12 months on from a stellar weekend in the 2025 campaign which saw the Swedish driver clinch both a sprint race victory and a feature race podium at the Baku City Circuit.
Not only does Beganovic arrive with fond memories from last year. The DAMS Lucas Oil driver also carries the momentum from a breakthrough feature race victory two weeks ago in Madrid, where he took an emphatic seven-second win from pole position for his first triumph of 2026.
“I’m very excited going into this weekend,” says Dino Beganovic. “Not least because of the pace we showed in Madrid, another street track, and also considering the results both I and the team had in Baku last year (Beganovic won the sprint race; DAMS driver Jak Crawford won the feature race). Momentum can be a strong force in this sport and I hope we can pick up where we left off a couple of weeks ago.”
Adding to the excitement, the Baku round will feature a unique, expanded format, with Formula 2 recently announcing a supersized weekend schedule taking in two qualifying sessions and three races.
The three-day event, which this time spans Thursday-Saturday, will begin with a 45-minute practice session on Thursday morning. That will then be followed by two consecutive 20-minute qualifying sessions on Thursday afternoon, setting the grid for all three races.
Friday will see both a sprint race and a feature race take place, with the weekend then concluding with a second feature race on Saturday. That means Baku offers up more championship points than any other round of the season, making this weekend a crucial opportunity to score big.
“The extended format for this event is exciting, and it does add to the complexity of the weekend quite a lot,” says Dino Beganovic. “It will be even more important to be on the pace immediately on Thursday, with both qualifying sessions taking place back-to-back and setting the grid for all three races. That will be a crucial 40 minutes of track time. It’s a format we have never trialled before, a supersized weekend, and I can’t wait to try it out.”
The grids for this weekend’s trio of races will be set accordingly:
Sprint Race: set by Qualifying 1, with the top ten reversed.
Feature Race 1: set by the outright results of Qualifying 1.
Feature Race 2: set by the outright results of Qualifying 2.
As always, all sessions will be available to stream on F1 TV as well as Viaplay in Sweden.
TIME TABLE
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 12 – Baku (AZE)
All times local (GMT+4)
Thursday September 24
Free Practice: 10.00-10.45
Qualifying 1: 14.00-14.20
Qualifying 2: 14.30-14.50
Friday September 25
Sprint Race (21 laps): 08.15-09.05
Feature Race 1 (29 laps): 14.15-15.20
Saturday September 26
Feature Race 2 (29 laps): 11.00-12.05
LIVE TIMING / RESULTS
www.fiaformula2.com
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
After 11/14 rounds
1: N. Tsolov (BUL), Campos Racing, 177 p.
2: R. Câmara (BRA), Invicta Racing, 170 p.
3: G. Minì (ITA), MP Motorsport, 153 p.
4: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport, 139 p.
5: N. Léon (MEX), Campos Racing, 119 p.
—
6: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil, 106 p.
