F2: Noel Leon earns first F2 victory with impressive fightback in Montreal

Noel Leon secured his first race victory in FIA Formula 2 with a determined drive in Montreal.

The Campos Racing driver started from third on the grid and looked to have taken second at Turn 1 until contact with Joshua Duerksen dropped him back down to P3.

After that early setback, the Mexican bided his time and re-passed Invicta Racing’s Duerksen, before hunting down pole sitter Gabriele Mini.

A mid-race Safety Car gave him the opportunity to pile on the pressure, and one lap after the restart, Leon made use of the slipstream and DRS into Turn 12 to make his move for P1 and ultimately race victory.

He then managed a second Safety Car restart from the front with no issues, eventually crossing the line 3.7s clear of the chasing pack.

Mini had to settle for second despite a final lap pass by Alexander Dunne on the MP Motorsport driver that dropped him to third across the line. The Irishman fell outside of the points after a 10-second time penalty for an earlier incident and contact at Turn 10.

Rounding out the podium was Martinius Stenshorne, who survived his own bit of contact with Nikola Tsolov and John Bennett at the hairpin to bring home P3 for Rodin Motorsport.

Leon’s victory was Campos’ third win of 2026, and the result moved the Spanish outfit further clear at the top of the Teams’ Standings, while the Mexican driver jumped up to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

With his second podium in as many races, Mini took the lead of the standings heading into Sunday’s Feature Race ahead of Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy talent Rafael Camara in P2.

Tsolov fell to third, with Campos teammate Leon following in P4, while polesitter for the Montreal Feature Race Laurens van Hoepen now sits fifth after climbing from P10 to fourth place in the Sprint.

For an in-depth report of the Montreal Sprint Race, visit the F2 website here.