Dunne Dominates F2’s Historic Montreal Debut: The Irish Rodin Driver Sets the Fastest Time in Formula 2’s First Ever Free Practice Session on Canadian Soil

Nobody in the Formula 2 paddock had ever turned a lap at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before this Friday. Not the most experienced drivers, not the engineers with years in the category, not the teams that have spent entire seasons competing in the final rung before Formula 1. Montreal was completely virgin territory for everyone, and that made it one of the most singular weekends in recent F2 history. The 45-minute free practice session was the only opportunity to learn the circuit before qualifying pressure arrived just hours later. Alexander Dunne made the most of it better than anyone.

The Irish Rodin Motorsport driver set the fastest time of the session with a 1:22.524, leading teammate Martinius Stenshorne by just 0.012 seconds in a result that placed the American team at the centre of every paddock conversation in Montreal. Nikola Tsolov of Campos Racing completed the top three, just over a tenth from Dunne’s time, in a demonstration that the championship leader has no intention of ceding ground even at circuits he is seeing for the first time.

Free practice ran at 10:05 local Montreal time, on a cold circuit with no rubber on the asphalt, which added an extra layer of complexity to a session that was already historically unusual by being the first time F2 had ever set wheels on Canadian soil.

The historical context of being in Montreal

F2’s presence in Montreal in 2026 is not a calendar accident. It is the direct consequence of the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds due to the Middle East conflict that disrupted the start of the F1 season and its support categories. The FIA and F2 organisation responded quickly and creatively: if they could not go to the Gulf, they would cross the Atlantic. Miami was the first North American stop in May, and Montreal is the second, making 2026 the year F2 wrote its North American history in one stroke.

For drivers, the novelty has very concrete implications. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a 4.361-kilometre layout built on the Île Notre-Dame in the St. Lawrence River, with long straights separated by sharp braking chicanes and a single tight hairpin at the rear of the circuit. The pit lane wall and barriers are closer than at most permanent circuits, and the asphalt tends to be bumpy and uneven — something F2’s technical director Pierre-Alain Michot had flagged in the official preview as one of the weekend’s biggest challenges for F2 cars, which operate with a very stiff suspension configuration.

There is also a new strategic element for this weekend: the FIA added an additional DRS zone just before Turn 10, something that does not exist in this year’s F1 layout. That opens overtaking opportunities that drivers had never analysed at this circuit and that free practice was the only moment to begin understanding.

How the session unfolded

After installation laps, Joshua Dürksen of Invicta Racing set the first timed lap of the session with a 1:25.319. Laurens van Hoepen of Trident responded by dropping to a 1:24.100 as the circuit began picking up rubber quickly. Dürksen got close at just 0.066 seconds behind before Martinius Stenshorne of Rodin took the lead with a 1:23.888, breaking through the 1:24 barrier with more than half the session remaining.

The circuit kept improving and Dürksen reclaimed top spot with a 1:23.519 before the session shifted clearly toward Rodin. Dunne moved up to second at 0.296 seconds from his teammate, and then came the session’s defining moment.

Tsolov, the man arriving in Montreal leading the championship, put Campos Racing at the top with a time that beat Dürksen and placed the Bulgarian in the most advantageous position in the field before the final phase. But Rodin was not prepared to let anyone take their headline-act status on F2’s inaugural Montreal day. Dunne found the last split-second of time he needed and set the 1:22.524 that stood as the day’s best, with Stenshorne second and Tsolov third.

The names that matter: championship, rookies and Herta

The 2026 F2 championship arrives in Montreal in a state of unstable equilibrium that makes every practice result especially significant. Tsolov leads by just one point over Gabriele Minì of MP Motorsport, who won the Miami Feature Race and climbed to second after that result. Rafael Cámara of Invicta Racing is third, also within one point of second place, in what is the tightest top-three championship battle in F2 so far in the 2026 season. Three drivers, three points of difference, at a circuit none of them know.

Dunne, fourth in the championship, is precisely the driver who can change everything in Montreal. The Irishman has taken podiums in both opening rounds and his free practice dominance suggests he has the car and confidence to step up this week. If he wins or reaches the podium in Sunday’s Feature Race, the championship will have four genuine contenders before the start of the European leg in Monaco.

The most followed story outside the paddock remains Colton Herta’s. The American who left IndyCar to try to accumulate the 40 super licence points needed to race in F1 arrived in Montreal with massive support from a North American crowd that knows and loves him. His Miami weekend was mixed, with the fastest free practice time but difficulties in the race. In Montreal, free practice was not as brilliant. Herta completed the session outside the top 10, which anticipates a difficult qualifying session on Friday afternoon.

What comes next: qualifying and Saturday’s sprint

F2 qualifying in Montreal took place at 14:20 local time, just hours after free practice ended. With the circuit progressively faster and teams having learned what they could in the 45-minute session, the order could shift significantly. Qualifying pole sets the Feature Race grid for Sunday and the reversed top 10 gives the Sprint Race starting order for Saturday.

For many drivers, that single free practice session was like sitting an exam without being able to study. For Dunne, it was the perfect stage to remind the championship that Rodin Motorsport is a team that competes to win, not just to score points.

Key quotes and curiosities

Alexander Dunne after setting the fastest time: it is a very interesting track, bumpy and technical. The additional DRS zone added before Turn 10 opens opportunities we had not seen here before.

Pierre-Alain Michot, F2 Technical Director: the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is another new challenge for every team and driver to take on. The surface bumpiness and kerb usage needed will be key factors.

Among the curiosities: Montreal is the third completely new circuit for F2 in the 2026 season, after Miami in May. Pirelli allocated the Soft and Supersoft compounds for this weekend, the two softest in the range, suggesting thermal management will be a factor in Saturday and Sunday’s races. The Sprint Race on Saturday will cover 28 laps and 122 kilometres, Sunday’s Feature Race 39 laps and 170 kilometres with a mandatory pit stop. And the F2 lap record at Montreal is still to be established: the circuit’s official fastest lap stands as N/A, meaning this weekend will write the first page of that historical record.

F2 FREE PRACTICE — CANADIAN GP 2026

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal — May 22, 2026 — First ever F2 free practice session in Canada — 45 minutes

Sources: FIA Formula 2 official fiaformula2.com, RacingNews365, Motorsport Week, Pit Debrief, Formula Live Pulse, Motorsport Radar, motorsportscalendar.com, RACER