- Technical gremlin forces Swede out of Montreal Feature Race when running second
- Australian repeat mars opening part of the season
Dino Beganovic found himself in disbelief after retiring from a Formula 2 Feature Race when battling for victory for the second time in three events to start out the 2026 season.
The young Swede was running second in Sunday’s main race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, when he was frustratingly forced to park up with a technical issue in the closing stages.
The situation mirrors that of the opening round in Melbourne back in March, when Beganovic also fell out of second with a mechanical gremlin.
“It’s tough to take, this one,” says Dino Beganovic. “It’s two out of three feature races now that we could potentially have won, or at least finished on the podium. It sucks not just for me, but for everyone in the team. We were having a fantastic race until that point, battling from 14th to P2 after a tricky qualifying session, and I had saved up tyres to be strong at the end. I was being patient and I think it would have paid off.
“Not what we needed, but we will look into what happened, learn from it, and then give it another go next time.”
Beganovic had previously stayed out of trouble in an eventful Sprint Race on Saturday to haul himself up to sixth place from 14th on the grid, scoring three championship points.
“The sprint race was good, getting up to sixth and picking up a few points,” Beganovic concludes. “The races are fine, we seem strong everywhere, but we need to improve our qualifying performance. That’s going to be the main focus from now on, especially with Monaco coming up where qualifying is absolutely key.”
The Formula 2 field now heads back to Europe for a busy part of the season, beginning in two weeks’ time at the legendary Monaco Grand Prix (June 4-7).
RESULTS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 3 – Montreal (CAN)
Race 1 (Sprint Race)
1: N. León (MEX), Campos Racing
2: G. Minì (ITA), MP Motorsport
3: M. Stenshorne (NOR), Rodin Motorsport
—
6: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil
Race 2 (Feature Race)
1: M. Stenshorne (NOR), Rodin Motorsport
2: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport
3: G. Minì (ITA), MP Motorsport
—
DNF: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
After 3/14 rounds
1: G. Minì (ITA), MP Motorsport, 57 p.
2: R. Câmara (BRA), Invicta Racing, 36 p.
3: N. Tsolov (BUL), Campos Racing, 35 p.
4: M. Stenshorne (NOR), Rodin, 35 p.
5: N. Léon (MEX), Campos Racing, 33 p.
—
8: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil, 24 p.
