What we learned in Baku: A new F2 points leader and a chaotic title race

Round 12 of the 2026 FIA Formula 2 season is in the books, and the standings have been thoroughly scrambled. Rafael Câmara now sits at the top of the drivers' championship, but the momentum on track tells a fascinating story about a fierce three-way battle.

Alexander Dunne put together arguably his finest round in the series yet for Rodin Motorsport. The Alpine Academy driver arrived in Azerbaijan sitting 38 points behind then-leader Nikola Tsolov, but sliced that gap down to 18 points from Câmara by the end of the weekend. That progress came despite a painful five-second time penalty for a pit lane misjudgment in Feature Race 2 that dropped the Irishman from the top step of the podium down to third. Still, four consecutive podiums and a scoring streak stretching back a further three races prove he is peaking at the right time, alongside claiming his first pole of the season.

Meanwhile, Câmara seized the championship lead for the first time this year courtesy of his Feature Race 2 victory. The Ferrari Driver Academy talent holds a seven-point advantage over Tsolov, backed by his third Feature win of 2026. Aside from a P15 in the Sprint Race—his first non-score in a finished race since the Silverstone Sprint in early July, minus a Monza Sprint DNF—his relentless consistency has finally paid off at the summit of the standings. Tsolov, on the other hand, is battling a slump compared to his earlier heroics of back-to-back wins at Silverstone and a Spa podium. He managed to limit the damage with a Saturday fightback in the second Feature Race, but needs to rediscover his earlier speed to hold off the chasing pack.

Further down the pit lane, Rodin Motorsport and DAMS Lucas Oil are making serious moves. Four different teams have taken victories across the last two rounds: Hitech, Invicta Racing, Rodin Motorsport, and DAMS Lucas Oil. That purple patch has lifted DAMS to fifth in the Teams' Standings past ART Grand Prix, while Rodin climbed to third ahead of MP Motorsport, sitting just a single point behind Invicta Racing. Dino Beganovic fueled that DAMS charge by surging into the top five of the Drivers' Championship with 58 points from the last two rounds, supported by teammate Roman Bilinski's four-race points scoring run. Over at Rodin, Martinius Stenshorne backed up his teammate by securing pole for Feature Race 2, a podium in the first Feature of the weekend, and his own five-race points streak.

With only two rounds remaining before the season concludes, both surging squads look primed to add to their win tallies as the championship heads to Lusail for Round 13.