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Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara took the FIA Formula 2 Drivers’ Championship lead after securing his third Feature Race victory of the 2026 season during a dramatic weekend in Baku, Azerbaijan
Qualifying 1
With the FIA Formula 2 Championship’s supersized weekend in Baku featuring two Qualifying sessions, the first set the grid for both the Sprint Race and first Feature Race of Round 12.
Shortened to 20 minutes each, the two sessions presented a new strategic challenge as the grid vied to maximise performance around the unforgiving Baku City Circuit, which leaves little margin for error.
Rafael Câmara and Joshua Dürksen took to the track at the first opportunity and Rafael’s first run placed him sixth while Joshua initially slotted into 13th.
As the second set of runs unfolded, Rafael slipped to ninth while Joshua, despite improving upon his previous personal best by almost two-tenths, dropped to 16th.
With the closing stages of Qualifying 1 approaching, Rafael took advantage of a tow from his team-mate to move into the top five, less than three-tenths adrift of pole position.
Neither Rafael nor Joshua were able to improve with their final attempts, leaving Rafael fifth while Joshua was 16th.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P5 (1:55.621)
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Joshua Dürksen: P16 (1:57.145)
Qualifying 2
The second Qualifying session set the grid for the second Feature Race and Rafael immediately showcased his pace by topping the timesheets with his opening run.
Joshua, meanwhile, was 15th after his first attempt before improving to 14th with his second hot lap.
As the final set of runs began, Rafael was displaced from the top spot by Alex Dunne and Martinius Stenshorne, with the Brazilian securing third while a late improvement saw Joshua move up to 13th.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P3 (1:54.173)
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Joshua Dürksen: P13 (1:55.283)
The top 10 positions from Qualifying 1 were reversed for the Sprint Race, with Rafael starting from sixth while Joshua lined up in 16th.
After holding his position off the line, Rafael locked his left-front tyre under braking on the approach to Turn 2 and made contact with Mari Boya, tipping the Spaniard into a spin.
The incident resulted in a 10-second time penalty for Rafael and prompted an early Safety Car, with the race getting resumed on Lap 3.
At the restart, Rafael immediately applied pressure to Sebastian Montoya and, after running side-by-side through Turns 1 and 2, completed the overtake into Turn 3 to move into fourth.
Joshua, who had made progress during the opening exchanges to move up to 13th, continued his recovery drive by overtaking Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Ritomo Miyata to climb into 11th.
A wide moment for Rafael on the exit of Turn 16 allowed Alex Dunne to move ahead on Lap 8, although the 21-year-old responded immediately by closing in on the Irish racer, who was battling with fellow title contender, Nikola Tsolov.
As the pair duelled, Rafael made his move on Tsolov to reclaim fourth, however, on Lap 17, Joshua ran deep into Turn 1 and hit the barriers to bring out a second Safety Car.
Behind the Safety Car, Rafael pitted to fit the Supersoft tyres in an attempt to maximise his pace during the closing stages while also serving his penalty. He rejoined in 18th and faced a single-lap dash to the chequered flag after racing resumed at the end of Lap 20.
Unfortunately, Rafael was caught behind a four-car accident in Turn 1 immediately after the restart, which prevented him from making further progress. He ultimately crossed the line in 16th.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P16 (0 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: DNF (0 points)
After receiving a three-place grid penalty following contact with John Bennett in the Sprint Race, Joshua lined up in 19th for the opening Feature Race while Rafael started from fifth.
Rafael made a strong getaway from the third row and moved up to fourth by overtaking Kush Maini around the outside of Turn 1 before setting his sights on Noel León as he looked ahead to the podium fight.
As the race settled into a rhythm, the pit window opened on Lap 7 and while Rafael overtook León for third, Joshua made his mandatory stop for the Soft tyres and rejoined in 18th.
One lap later, an on-track stoppage for Boya prompted a Safety Car, with the neutralisation presenting Rafael with an opportunity to pit for fresh tyres on Lap 9, rejoining in fourth.
Racing resumed on Lap 11 with Rafael coming under pressure from Dino Beganovich and Martinius Stenshorne, while further back a seven-car collision brought out the Red Flag, with Joshua caught up in the incident.
Due to the length of the stoppage, the race became time-limited before recommencing with a rolling start, with Rafael lining up in fifth.
Pressure from León and Stenshorne at the restart saw Rafael slip to seventh, although he quickly responded by dispatching Colton Herta before overtaking Oliver Goethe to regain fifth.
In the final stages, Rafael continued to apply pressure to León. He made his move on the Mexican in the final run to the line, finishing just 0.005 seconds ahead in a drag race to the chequered flag to score 12 points and move into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, one point ahead of Tsolov.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P4 (12 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: DNF (0 points)
Rafael started from third for the final Feature Race of the weekend, while Joshua lined up in 13th on the grid.
Both Invicta Racing drivers held position during the opening exchanges, before the Safety Car was deployed following a spin for Bennett in Turn 1.
Racing resumed on Lap 2 and Rafael immediately challenged Dunne for second by applying pressure around the outside of Turn 1. Joshua, meanwhile, started to make progress by overtaking Miyata for 12th.
As the race found its rhythm, Miyata came to a halt and, anticipating a potential Safety Car, Dunne pitted to allow Rafael to move into second place on Lap 6.
The Virtual Safety Car was subsequently deployed on Lap 7 before racing resumed one lap later, with Rafael now hunting down Stenshorne for the lead.
On Lap 9, Inthraphuvasak stopped in the third sector which prompted Stenshorne to pit, handing the lead to Rafael, while Joshua also made his mandatory stop, boxing from seventh to rejoin in 13th.
Following a brief Virtual Safety Car period, Rafael made his own pit stop at the end of Lap 10, and a clinical tyre change from the Invicta Racing crew allowed the Brazilian to rejoin in the net lead.
With his Soft tyres yet to reach their optimum temperature, he came under pressure from Dunne, who used DRS to take the lead on Lap 12 as Rafael settled into second, remaining firmly within striking distance of the Irishman.
Dunne was later handed a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit entry line and pushed hard to extend his advantage, but Rafael remained within overtaking range throughout the remainder of the race.
In the closing stages, Tsolov joined the battle for victory and closed to within one second of Rafael, who was still within DRS range of Dunne.
After 29 laps of racing, Rafael crossed the line in second but was promoted to victory following Dunne’s penalty. The result marked Rafael’s third Feature Race win of the 2026 season and allowed him to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to seven points, with Joshua finishing 13th.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P1 (25 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P13 (0 points)
RAFAEL CÂMARA
“Overall, I’m very happy with how this weekend has unfolded. After closing the gap to Nikola [Tsolov] in Madrid, my goal coming into Baku was to make further progress and to hopefully put myself in a position to take the lead in the Drivers’ Championship. In the Sprint Race, I made a mistake at the start which gave me the time penalty, but our pace was competitive which meant that, after the pit stop, I felt confident to push forward. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the incident at the restart which was frustrating. Despite this, I think we responded well to maximise the result in the first Feature Race, and the extra two points from passing Noel [León] at the line allowed me to take the championship lead. The second Feature Race was the perfect opportunity to extend that advantage and, once again, we did everything we needed to do. We stayed in contention throughout, we pulled together a good strategy, and we put ourselves in the position to win. I’m very satisfied with this weekend. We’ve worked very hard to close the gap over the past few rounds and it feels very good to be at the top of the standings.”
JOSHUA DÜRKSEN
“Baku has been a tough weekend for us. We were missing some pace in Qualifying but the car felt much better in the Sprint and I was able to recover well. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the second half and hit the barriers in Turn 1 which ended our race. A grid penalty then put us on the back foot for the first Feature Race, and we were unfortunately caught up in the incident at Turn 3 which was unavoidable. In the second Feature, we showed good potential, but sadly, the top 10 was just out of reach. After the double victory at Monza, we know the pace is there – we just need to regroup, keep working, and keep pushing forwards.”
JAMES ROBINSON, TEAM PRINCIPAL
“It’s been a very intense but rewarding weekend here in Baku. Coming into the weekend, and with the revised format giving us more opportunities to score, we knew there was a strong chance to make a significant impact in the championship. That’s exactly what we managed to do. Thanks to his performances in Qualifying, Rafa put himself into contention for all three races, and pieced together three very mature performances. After taking the championship lead on Friday, he did exactly what he needed to do on Saturday to extend that advantage further. Joshua, on the other hand, was very unlucky. We were missing a little bit of pace in Qualifying, but he gave everything in all three races and it’s a shame to not see him get rewarded for his efforts. Overall, we’ve had a strong performance this weekend and I’m very proud of the team for their hard work. We’ll keep building from here.”
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Invicta Racing: P2 (297 points)
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Rafael Câmara: P1 (207 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P8 (90 points)
