Formula 2, Sportrik Media - Joshua Dürksen secured victory in the opening Sprint Race of the 2026 Formula 2 season at Albert Park Circuit, held as a support race to the Australian Grand Prix.
The Invicta Racing driver started from the front row and quickly overtook reverse-grid pole sitter Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak during the early laps. Once in the lead, Dürksen controlled the race pace and remained largely unchallenged until the chequered flag.
Second place went to Noel Leon of Campos Racing, while Alex Dunne from Rodin Motorsport completed the podium following a five-second penalty applied to team-mate Martinius Stenshorne.
Inthraphuvasak, who started from reverse-grid pole, finished fifth, while Japanese driver Ritomo Miyata completed the top five for Hitech.
Although Stenshorne crossed the line in third position, his time penalty dropped him to tenth place and out of the points. Meanwhile, debutant Colton Herta finished the race in 16th position.
2026 F2 Australian Sprint Race Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Dürksen | Invicta Racing | 10 |
| 2 | Noel Leon | Campos Racing | 8 |
| 3 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | ART Grand Prix | 6 |
| 4 | Alex Dunne | Rodin Motorsport | 5 |
| 5 | Ritomo Miyata | Hitech | 4 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | MP Motorsport | 3 |
| 7 | Laurens van Hoepen | Trident | 2 |
| 8 | Roman Bilinski | DAMS Lucas Oil | 1 |
| 9 | Sebastian Montoya | Prema Racing | 0 |
| 10 | Martinius Stenshorne | Rodin Motorsport | 0 |
| 11 | Rafael Camara | Invicta Racing | 0 |
| 12 | Kush Maini | ART Grand Prix | 0 |
| 13 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 0 |
| 14 | Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. | AIX Racing | 0 |
| 15 | John Bennett | Trident | 0 |
| 16 | Colton Herta | Hitech | 0 |
| 17 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos Racing | 0 |
| 18 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 0 |
| 19 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 0 |
| 20 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS Lucas Oil | 0 |
| 21 | Nicolas Varrone | Van Amersfoort Racing | 0 |
| DNF | Mari Boya | Prema Racing | — |
The result gives Dürksen an early advantage in the 2026 Formula 2 championship standings, while drivers now prepare for the Feature Race later in the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
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