In a double-header weekend, Formula 2 entered a second week in a row of racing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain for its fifth round of the 2026 season. Coming off a podium in Monaco, MP Motorsport started the weekend with Gabriele provisionally leading the drivers' championship, Oliver in P16, and the team itself sitting in P3. The circuit offered more opportunity for Gabriele to extend his lead, for Oliver to come back from his unlucky circumstances the past couple of races, and for the team to progress in the points up the standings.
On a warm Friday morning, the MP Motorsport drivers took the track for their only free practice session on the weekend. Utilising data collected at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit from pre-season testing, the drivers and team were prepared coming into the session.
Gabriele had a decent session, completing a total of 10 laps and setting a fastest time of 1:27.001, putting himself in P6 for the session.
Unfortunately for Oliver, he was only able to run 5 laps, with a red flag during the session restricting him further. He was only able to achieve a fastest lap time of 1:41.044, placing P22 in the session.
Although after the red flag, he did exhibit good pace with a 1:27.360 lap time that was deleted. With a qualifying session later in the afternoon, the drivers would be given the opportunity to get back on track and secure a good position for the two upcoming races.
Free Practice Results:
Back on track for the Formula 2 qualifying session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Both Gabriele and Oliver were out on track early, exhibiting great pace and promise for the race ahead.
Gabriele had consistent pace throughout the session, where he set a good fastest lap of 1:25.144, which placed him in P4 for the session.
Unfortunately for Oliver, he set an initial lap time which placed him in P11, although due to a Red Flag instigated by Ritomo Miyata losing it in the last corner and going into the barriers, Oliver's time was cancelled, making him fall to P19.
When the cars were allowed back on track, there were only 3 minutes and 40 seconds remaining; Oliver did what he could with his limited time and recovered to P15 with a fastest lap of 1:25.535.
Qualifying Results:
The first race of the Formula 2 weekend took place as a sprint on Saturday, with 26 laps and a reversal of the top ten in qualifying with Gabriele starting in P7 and Oliver in P13.
On the initial launch, Gabriele flew up to P5 while Oliver fell to P16 momentarily before climbing back up to P14 before the end of lap 1. With action early on, Gabriele overtook Colton Herta on lap 2, bringing himself up to P4.
By lap 4, Gabriele exhibited pressure on Noel León in P3, challenging for the podium early on. On lap 6, Gabriele overtook Noel León on the outside, snatching up P3. Around the mid-point of the race, Gabriele caught up to Nikola Tsolov in P2, but saved his tyres until the right moment. By lap 22, Gabriele began challenging for P2, side-to-side battling with Nikola Tsolov. With the benefits of DRS, at the start of lap 23, Gabriele overtook him on the outside, grabbing P2. Although he was not in the clear, on the final 2 laps, Gabriele had Colton Herta challenging him for the position. Luckily, Colton Herta locked up on the final lap, falling down the grid, but securing Gabriele his P2 finish in the race.
Oliver spent much of his race stuck in the midfield in P14; he kept his racing clean and avoided contact with the battle between Sebastian Montoya and Martinius Stenshorne ahead of him. With the penalties given to drivers ahead on the grid, Oliver moved up to secure a P12 finish.
Sprint Race Results:
On a Sunday just before midday, the final race of the Formula 2 weekend took place, with Gabriele starting in P3 and Oliver in P14.
With an issue on the formation lap, Oliver started from the pit lane but unfortunately stopped just outside the pit exit, ending his race weekend prematurely.
On the launch, Gabriele was pushed into P5 by Villagómez and Tsolov, but not for long; after that, Gabriele overtook Tsolov on the outside to claim P4 before the end of lap 1.
Later down, Gabriele began to challenge Villagómez on lap 9, eventually on T2 of lap 10 overtaking him on the outside, moving up to P3.
Midway into the race, other drivers began to pit, with Gabriele pitting on lap 14, where he came out in P15. It did not take long to move back up the grid, with Gabriele moving up to P12 by lap 18, putting himself behind Alex Dunne.
By Lap 19, Gabriele moved up to P11, and with Roman Bilinski going wide on lap 21 ahead of Alex Dunne, this allowed Gabriele to overtake and move up to P9.
Many more of the drivers pitted at the end of lap 22, moving Gabriele up to P5. On lap 23, both Gabriele and Alex Dunne made a move to overtake Joshua Duerksen in P3. Gabriele overtook on the outside, provisionally moving ahead, but battling back and forth with Alex Dunne before moving to P4.
The final drivers ahead pitted, promoting Gabriele to P2. Although by lap 27, Rafael Camara was on the back of Gabriele on fresher tyres, he eventually overtook Gabriele for P2 on lap 28. Not long after, Gabriele also fell a further position to P4, after Nikola Tsolov - also on fresher tyres- overtook him on lap 33.
By the final lap, Gabriele was on the back of Alex Dunne for P3. He had a good push overall, but it was unfortunately not enough, and Gabriele finished in P4. But after a post-race penalty given to Nikola Tsolov, Gabriele was awarded P3.
Feature Race Results:
After a weekend of ups and downs for MP Motorsport, Gabriele came home with P2 in Race 1 and P3 in Race 2, extending his lead in the driver championship and maintaining MP Motorsport’s place of P3 in the teams championship. With an unfortunate state of events for Oliver in the final race with his DNF, he showed good pace and promise for the next race at the Red Bull Ring in two weeks.
Driver Standings After Round 2:
Team Standings After Round 2:
