The supersized weekend in Baku delivered an absolute thriller with two closely fought Qualifyings and three action-packed races, shaking up the championship picture completely. At the end of it all, we have a brand new leader at the top of the standings, with the top three contenders covered by just 18 points. Here is how it all unfolded across a wild few days of racing.
Rafael Câmara now leads the Drivers' Championship for the first time in 2026. While the Brazilian has been quick all season, early mistakes meant his pace did not always translate into results. Lately, however, his consistency has been undeniable, especially in the Feature Races. Câmara has finished in the top five in eight of the nine Feature Races so far, picking up three victories along the way in Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps, and Baku. In Baku, he beat Noel León in a drag race to the line for fourth place and the championship lead, following the retirement of his rival. He then followed it up with a victory in Feature Race 2, extending his advantage to seven points over Nikola Tsolov. History bodes well for the Brazilian, as the driver leading going into the final two rounds has won the championship in each of the previous nine seasons. Still, Câmara was clear after the weekend that the fight is far from over.
For Tsolov, losing the championship lead for the first time since Silverstone could have been a bitter pill to swallow, but the Campos Racing driver walked away with reason to celebrate. It was a brutal few days for the Bulgarian and his Campos Racing team after struggling to 10th in Qualifying 1 and eighth in Q2. After dropping to fifth from reverse pole in the Sprint Race, Tsolov then retired with damage in Feature Race 1. To make matters worse, the Red Bull Junior picked up a three-place grid penalty for Feature Race 2 after crossing the commitment line at pit entry. Yet, starting from P11, Tsolov and the team worked heavily on the car, executing an inspired strategic call to avoid an early pit stop and drive a stunning race to second. The 19-year-old admitted the result felt like a win.
Alexander Dunne put on a masterclass that earned him arguments for driver of the weekend, even if things did not end perfectly. The Rodin Motorsport driver took pole in Q1, second in Q2, and fought from 10th to third in the Sprint Race before converting pole into his first win of the season in Feature Race 1. Dunne crossed the line first in Feature Race 2 as well, but a five-second time penalty for the same commitment line pit entry infraction as Tsolov dropped him to third. Without that penalty, Dunne would sit on 199 points—just a single point behind Câmara. Three podiums in three races is a fantastic return for the Irishman, continuing an exceptional run of form that has seen him claw back a deficit that once stood at 59 points in Madrid down to just 18 points over the space of two rounds.
Further down the order, Gabriele Minì, Dino Beganovic, and Noel León remain mathematically in the hunt. Minì endured a tough round, slipping from 24 points off the lead to 44 points behind Câmara, meaning he will need a lot of things to go right. Meanwhile, Beganovic and León face steep hills to climb sitting over 70 points away from the top spot. But as Formula 2 proves time and time again, you simply never know what is around the corner.
