Alex Dunne promoted to second in Barcelona after Tsolov penalty, making it three F2 podiums in a row

Race recap

Alex Dunne, starting from the front row, seized the lead at Turn 1 and held off early pressure. The Safety Car was deployed before the end of the opening lap when Oliver Goethe stopped on the pit-lane exit. On the restart, Dunne kept a half-second margin over Invicta Racing's Rafael Camara.

I knew going into the race that beating Rafa was going to be really hard. I think my only opportunity really was to have a good start, get past him on lap one and then just try and hang on for dear life, more or less.

Dunne pitted on Lap 13, switching tyres early. Camara stayed out until Lap 22, building a tyre life advantage that proved decisive. After his own stop, Camara carved through the field and overtook Dunne for the lead on Lap 30. Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov, on fresh Soft tyres, also passed Dunne with three laps remaining to originally claim second place.

Penalty and final classification

Tsolov was investigated for allegedly overtaking championship leader Gabriele Mini off the circuit. Stewards handed him a five-second time penalty, demoting him to fourth. Dunne was promoted to second, with Mini taking third. Dunne had held off Mini on the final lap to secure the original third place.

Championship picture

Gabriele Mini (Prema) leads the drivers' standings on 86 points after five rounds. Tsolov sits second with Red Bull, while Camara's maiden F2 win lifts him to third. Dunne, in his second season with Rodin Motorsport, moved up to sole fourth on 64 points. It is his fifth podium of the campaign.

Team battle

Campos Racing retained the lead in the teams' championship with 140 points, ahead of Rodin Motorsport on 112.

Formula 3

In the supporting F3 round, Red Bull junior Fionn McLaughlin from Ireland finished 26th in the feature race and 20th in the sprint race. Theophile Nael (Campos Racing) won the feature race, while Australian James Wharton took Saturday's sprint.