Formula 2 field guide
The closest thing to watching an F1 audition at race speed. Same cars, limited track time, heavy cars, carbon brakes, DRS, and drivers trying to prove they can solve a new circuit faster than everyone else.
WHAT YOU ARE WATCHING
F2 is the final step before Formula 1. Every car is built to the same Dallara specification and uses the same 3.4-litre single-turbo Mecachrome V6, rated at 620 hp. That makes it a pressure cooker: teams still matter, but driver adaptation, tyre care, starts, and race judgment are exposed fast.
The car is big, heavy, and serious: 795 kg with driver, 18-inch Pirelli tyres, carbon brakes, DRS, and enough speed to make Montréal’s braking zones feel properly consequential from the stands.
FROM THE GRANDSTAND
- Practice: Montréal is new to F2 in 2026, so first laps matter. Watch who uses the curbs without smashing rhythm and who leaves margin at the Wall of Champions.
- Qualifying: this is the weekend’s hinge. It sets the Feature Race grid, while the top ten are reversed for the Sprint. P10 can become a gift; P11 is purgatory.
- Sprint Race: reverse-grid compression means more overtaking and more chaos. Judge racecraft, not just finishing position.
- Feature Race: the main event. Longer race, tyre management, and strategy texture. This is where future-F1 composure shows up.
WHO TO NOTICE
Start with the obvious storyline anchors: Rafael Câmara as the recent F3 champion, Colton Herta as the American/Cadillac-path curiosity, Sebastián Montoya for name pressure, Dino Beganovic and Nikola Tsolov as major junior-program names, plus any driver who looks calm in traffic through the chicanes.
WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE
From the stands, the best F2 drivers do not necessarily look spectacular. They look repeatable. They brake late without stabbing at it, rotate the car once, get back to throttle cleanly, and make passes look inevitable rather than desperate.
Sources: FIA Formula 2 official car/engine page, official Montreal Round 3 notes, and official F2 season guide.