Mini on Top, Red Flags and Wall Strikes: How F2 Kicked Off the 2026 Monaco GP Weekend

Miní Sets the Morning Tone in Monaco, But Qualifying Will Tell the Real Story

Formula 2 free practice at Monaco is unlike any other session on the calendar. There is only one of them. One chance to learn the barriers, one shot to read the track, one morning to figure out where the limits are before qualifying throws everything into the air. This Thursday, June 4, Gabriele Miní used that one session better than anyone else 24 clean laps, a best time of 1:21.809, and nobody came close enough to make him uncomfortable.

Monaco runs its F2 and F3 free practice on Thursday for logistical reasons tied to the Principality’s event structure. It sounds like a minor detail until you realise what it means in practice: drivers have a single morning to memorise a street circuit with Armco barriers inches from the racing line, 19 corners that punish overcorrection, and zero runoff area anywhere that matters. Then they sleep on it. Then they qualify.

This morning made that pressure very visible, very quickly.

Sebastián Montoya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak made contact at the Rascasse hairpin early in the session. On most circuits that is a minor incident. Here, it brought out a red flag and ended both drivers’ rhythm at the worst possible time. Rafael Villagómez hit the barriers later in the session and finished with just 14 laps completed not enough mileage to feel truly comfortable around the circuit. Oliver Goethe had the hardest Thursday of anyone: only four laps before his session effectively ended, a 1:44.671 on the timesheets that tells you everything you need to know, and a very difficult starting point heading into qualifying tomorrow.

Miní had none of those problems. The MP Motorsport driver who shares a garage with Goethe, which makes the contrast even sharper built his session methodically, completed his laps, kept the car away from the walls, and delivered. That 1:21.809 was the cleanest lap of the morning. Kush Maini was right behind him with a 1:21.829 for ART Grand Prix, just 20 thousandths back. That is not a gap, that is a statistical tie. Twenty thousandths of a second in Monaco qualifying is nothing. Maini is very much in contention.

Alex Dunne made it a genuine three-way battle at the top with a 1:21.942 for Rodin Motorsport. From fourth onward the times begin to spread a little more, but the top six are covered by just 0.206 seconds: Beganovic fourth for DAMS Lucas Oil, van Hoepen fifth for Trident, and Tsolov sixth for Campos Racing. Six drivers separated by two tenths in Monaco free practice. That is what a competitive championship looks like on a circuit that punishes anyone not paying full attention.

Noel León finished seventh for Campos Racing. Considering the session’s interruptions and the difficulty of getting any clean laps in Mónaco during the first morning on track, seventh is a genuinely useful result. Rafael Cámara went tenth for Invicta Racing, and Mari Boya brought home twelfth for PREMA Racing, 1.302 seconds off Miní’s pace.

What this morning showed is that the front of the grid is genuinely open. The top three are within 0.133 seconds of each other. Qualifying here runs in two groups Group A first, Group B second with the combined times setting the grid. That format adds an extra layer of unpredictability: a driver who looked strong this morning could get caught in traffic during their qualifying lap, or find the barriers at exactly the wrong moment.

Miní set the tone. But in Monaco, Thursday morning is just the opening line of a much longer story.

FREE PRACTICE

Miní topped the morning session, but Monaco free practice only tells part of the story — it keeps you out of the barriers, it doesn’t hand you pole position. Do you think he can hold that pace when qualifying groups split the field tomorrow? Or are Maini and Dunne ready to go one step further? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.

Sources: FIA Formula 2 Championship (fiaformula2.com), Motorsport.com, RacingNews365