Gabriele Mini claimed his first Formula 2 victory in a rain-hit and chaotic Miami feature race, emerging on top after a late fight with Ferrari proteges Dino Beganovic and Rafael Camara. The Alpine junior for MP Motorsport delivered a composed final stint to convert a turbulent afternoon into a landmark win.
Heavy rain in the build-up meant two formation laps behind the safety car before a standing start. Polesitter Kush Maini led cleanly for ART Grand Prix as Camara bogged down from the front row, while several cars ran wide at Turn 1. Saturday’s sprint winner Nikola Tsolov was collected by Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and eliminated at the first corner, triggering an early safety car.
Under caution, race control instructed the field to route through the pit lane to allow marshals to recover the stricken Campos Racing car. In the confusion, leaders Maini and Camara appeared to miss the call and passed the pit entry. Mini, then in fifth, dived in but missed the required outside bollard at pit entry. Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne, first to take the lane, briefly emerged in front before handing the place back to Maini under the safety car.
Racing resumed at the end of lap three, only for Stenshorne to peel in for a stop-go penalty for team personnel being on the grid after the three-minute warning, dropping him to the back. Moments later, Oliver Goethe suffered a huge snap exiting the final corner and hit the barriers, almost collecting the fast-starting Beganovic, who had risen from 11th to fifth. A brief virtual safety car followed as Maini pressed on.
By lap nine, Maini had built a cushion of more than seven seconds while the Invicta Racing pair of Camara and Joshua Duerksen fought behind. Beganovic’s charge continued as he cleared Mini for fourth through Turn 6. The race pivoted again when Alex Dunne outbraked himself into Turn 17 and met the barriers, bringing out the safety car.
With 10 laps complete, most of the field pitted. Duerksen, Colton Herta and John Bennett stayed out, while Camara grabbed the net lead in the stops as Maini was forced to wait in his pit box with traffic streaming past. The race switched to a timed contest with 25 minutes remaining, Duerksen leading the restart.
Beganovic kept up the momentum, passing Maini for what became a net second, with Noel Leon following suit. Another safety car was deployed with 20 minutes left when Stenshorne’s car came to rest on the outside of Turn 17 after contact from Nico Varrone. Duerksen then pitted, handing control to Camara. A five-car fight formed at the front, Mini slipping past Leon before the safety car reappeared to retrieve Cian Shields’s stopped AIX Racing car. Under caution, Bennett gambled on slicks, but with grip at a premium he spun at Turn 12 and returned for wets on the next lap.
The decisive exchanges came in the final six minutes. Camara led Beganovic and Mini at the restart, only for Beganovic to dive down the inside at Turn 17 to take first. Camara tried to retaliate into Turn 1 but lost momentum and ceded second to Mini. The Italian then pounced when Beganovic cut the Turn 15 chicane and ran wide at Turn 17, seizing the lead and holding firm to the flag.
Mini headed Beganovic and Camara at the finish, with Leon fourth and polesitter Maini fifth. Ritomo Miyata was sixth ahead of Mari Boya, while Herta, Sebastian Montoya and Duerksen completed the points. Camara set the fastest lap in 1m55.796s. Retirements included Shields, Stenshorne, Rafael Villagomez, Dunne, Goethe, Tsolov and Roman Bilinski.
What’s next: With Miami’s unpredictability in the books, attention turns to the next round, where teams will look to build on lessons from a strategy-heavy, weather-affected weekend.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/mini-takes-maiden-f2-win-in-rain-hit-chaotic-miami-feature). Visit for full coverage.*