Analysis
Dino Beganovic's DAMS victory points to team progress
Dino Beganovic secured his second career F2 win at Madring, a lights-to-flag victory for DAMS. Analysis suggests technical progress.
Dino Beganovic, driving for DAMS, achieved his first Formula 2 victory of the 2026 season at the Madring circuit. He finished over seven seconds ahead of Alex Dunne, representing Rodin Motorsport. This result marks DAMS' first feature race win since Jak Crawford's victory in Baku last season, also from pole position.
Beganovic’s Controlled Performance
Beganovic started from pole and maintained his lead through the opening laps. Two safety car periods occurred during the race. The first, triggered by Kush Maini's contact with the wall on lap two, did not allow for early pit stops for soft-tyre runners, as the mandatory pit window had not yet opened. Beganovic's strategy involved a longer stint on soft tyres. His pace advantage was clear, allowing him to break DRS early after restarts, although Dunne closed the gap to within one second at times, according to Feeder Series.
Beganovic confirmed the team's efforts in his post-race comments. He stated, “The team did a good job, all week actually. Coming from the simulator, testing some stuff and going in a direction that they haven’t been used to before but obviously it worked this weekend, and hopefully we can carry it on for Baku. From FP I felt very good in the car, confident, and that’s all you need at this track.” This suggests a successful technical development path implemented by DAMS.
Championship Implications and Future Prospects
Nikola Tsolov currently leads the Formula 2 standings with 167 points, ahead of Gabriel Minì on 147 points and Rafael Câmara with 145 points. Alex Dunne sits fourth with 108 points. While Beganovic's win did not immediately alter the top four championship contenders, it demonstrated DAMS' potential for improved performance. The next Formula 1 round, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, is scheduled for September 24. This F2 result could signify a shift in momentum for DAMS and Beganovic as the season progresses.
Status And Sources
This story is labelled Analysis, which means this is our reading of facts that are already established. The rules behind those labels are in the editorial policy, and the desk that published it is Miika Rantanen.
Written from the following reporting. Each link goes to the newsroom's own page, not to an aggregator:
- Feeder Seriesfeederseries.net
