Martinius Stenshorne leaves Baku in far better shape than he arrived. After a difficult stretch of rounds, the Rodin Motorsport driver was a front-runner all weekend in Azerbaijan and made a big move up the Drivers’ Standings.

Round 12 of the 2026 season in Baku came with an unusual format – a Sprint Race plus two Feature Races – making it a particularly valuable weekend in the points battle.

Pole, podium and points

The Norwegian set the tone in qualifying, taking second in Qualifying 1 and then pole in Qualifying 2 by 0.445s. He went on to finish fourth in the Sprint Race and second in Feature Race 1, completing a one-two for Rodin Motorsport.

Saturday’s Feature Race 2 was the one that got away. Starting from pole, Stenshorne slipped to third behind team-mate Alex Dunne and Rafael Câmara during the pit stop phase, and was later passed by title contender Nikola Tsolov, eventually taking the flag in fourth.

Mixed feelings, positive verdict

Stenshorne admitted that set-up changes made for Saturday did not fully pay off and left him short of pace, adding that Baku’s constantly evolving track surface made it hard to stay on top of the car.

Still, the bigger picture was encouraging. “Overall it’s been a positive weekend,” he told the official F2 website, describing Baku as a solid comeback after some tough rounds.

Key facts

Qualifying 1: P2; Qualifying 2: pole (+0.445s)
Sprint Race: P4
Feature Race 1: P2
Feature Race 2: P4 (from pole)
Drivers’ Standings: up from 11th to 7th
Points in six of the last eight races

Source: FIA Formula 2 official website (fiaformula2.com)

Archive photo: Martinius Stenshorne, Formula 2, Austria, 26 June 2026. Photo: Lukas Raich / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for web; any adapted image is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.