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Camara beats Dunne to Silverstone F2 pole as Mini takes Sprint reversal
Rafael Camara secured his third Formula 2 pole position of the season at Silverstone, beating Alex Dunne while championship leader Gabriele Mini ended qualifying in tenth.
By Michael de Vries - 2026-07-03T14:45:43.000Z - 2 min read
Rafael Câmara added a third Formula 2 pole position to his resume at Silverstone, overcoming an early track limits violation to dominate the closing minutes of Friday's qualifying session. The Invicta Racing driver, currently competing as the reigning Formula 3 champion and Ferrari Driver Academy member, set a benchmark of 1:39.690 to top the standings following previous pole positions in Monaco and Barcelona.
Enforcement of track limits shaped the opening ten minutes of the session, stripping fast laps from several drivers across the field. Both Câmara and Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne had initial efforts deleted for exceeding circuit boundaries. Amid the early disruption, Kush Maini briefly held provisional pole position for ART Grand Prix ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing pair Rafael Villagomez and Nicolas Varrone.
As the session crossed the midpoint, Dunne recovered from his early penalty to jump to the top of the timing screens. Maini slotted in behind the Irishman, while Câmara elevated his Invicta entry to third position to set up a three-way battle entering the final runs.
The decisive phase began inside the final ten minutes when Câmara produced his pole-setting lap. Pulling two tenths of a second clear of the chasing group, the Brazilian left his rivals contesting the remaining front-row spot. Dunne retained second place by the tightest margin, edging Maini by a single millisecond.
DAMS driver Roman Bilinski ended the session fourth, finishing less than eight hundredths behind Maini. Nikola Tsolov placed fifth for Campos Racing, securing a third-row start for both races and placing himself ahead of title rival Gabriele Minì on the grid.
Minì endured a tougher outing in his MP Motorsport entry, placing tenth overall after finishing nearly seven tenths off Câmara's pace. While the Alpine Academy member starts from pole position for Saturday's Sprint Race due to the top-ten grid inversion, his tenth-place finish leaves him at a potential starting disadvantage for the Feature Race compared to Tsolov.
Behind the top five, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak qualified sixth for ART Grand Prix, ahead of Invicta's Joshua Dürksen in seventh. Villagomez held onto eighth position for Van Amersfoort, while Hitech driver Ritomo Miyata took ninth ahead of Minì to complete the top ten.