Formula 2 is about to plant its flag in new territory. For the first time, the series lands in North America, with rounds in Miami and Montreal.
This in-season reroute just so happens to provide Formula 2’s reigning double champions, Invicta Racing, with a home race. The calendar has been on pause since Melbourne, but Formula 2 is about to return to action in style.
Invicta Racing raring to go for Miami and Montreal
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Almost two months will have passed by the time that the Mecachrome V6 turbo engine roars back into life, and F2 cars go racing around the Miami International Autodrome.
This is uncharted territory for the series. Never before has F2 raced in North America.
It is a change which takes F2 to the other side of the map, the original plan having been Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for rounds two and three.
An exciting time for the series as a whole, and certainly for Invicta Racing more specifically.
While this back-to-back F2 title double-winning team is based in the UK, its owner, the Invicta Watch Group, operates out of Hollywood, Florida. That is, of course, the same American state where one will find Miami.
“We’re really excited to be going to Miami and Montreal,” declared Invicta Racing CEO and Team Principal James Robinson in an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com.
“Miami is our home race, insofar as it’s the headquarters of Invicta Watch Group. So it’s really exciting for us to race there and to race at home, even though this is a team based in the UK.
“And to race in North America for the first time ever in this championship, is really, really exciting, and certainly helps position the championship as a truly global series.
“That can only be a good thing.”
Formula 2 is a series well accustomed to moving around Europe and Asia.
To add North America to the mix, as an in-season decision, sounds like quite the logistical challenge.
Robinson explained how the “very well-oiled machine” that is Invicta Racing – with expert support from Formula 2 – has navigated this task.
“Logistically, there have been some challenges, but it hasn’t been as bad as it could have been, given how short notice we had to have things turned around.
“F2 have been great in coordinating logistics for us.
“The bigger issue has just been getting flights and hotel rooms at short notice and things like that.
“But logistics, it’s a very well-oiled machine.
“And fundamentally, sending the cars to Miami and Montreal, is no different than sending them to Bahrain and Jeddah. You’re just going west instead of east.
“We effectively execute each flyaway race the same, obviously on track, but also operationally as well. Everybody knows what their job is. It’s been a big compliment to them that they’ve turned it around very quickly.
“We didn’t have the cars for very long, because they only came back from Melbourne, I want to say, about a month ago, and then they were away to Miami last week.
“The cars were obviously held up in Melbourne until we knew where we were going to next, because they would normally have gone straight from Melbourne to Bahrain, but we didn’t know if we were going to race in Europe, or if we were going to race in North America. So, the freight was all held in Melbourne for a few weeks until we knew what was going on.
“Didn’t have much time to turn things around, but everybody got the job done, and credit to them.”
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Speaking of getting the job done, these calendar changes will provide an important test for the Formula 2 drivers.
Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, for example, is a notoriously high-risk track. The ‘Wall of Champions’ has caught out many of Formula 1’s icons over the years and decades.
One can also look at this as a golden opportunity for the F2 2026 rookies, and the grid more widely, these drivers who are of course striving for a future place on the Formula 1 grid.
Ordinarily, tracks like Miami and Montreal would be unfamiliar for any driver who makes the cut. That will not be the case for any class of 2026 graduates.
Invicta houses one of the most exciting young talents on the junior ladder, that being Ferrari-backed Rafael Câmara, the reigning Formula 3 champion.
His Invicta teammate, Joshua Dürksen, is sure to offer the Brazilian a stern test in F2 2026. This is Dürksen’s third season at this level, a campaign which he kicked-off by winning the Melbourne sprint.
“I think certainly for rookies like Rafa, it’s a great opportunity, insofar as it’s a clean sheet of paper for everybody,” said Robinson of the Miami and Montreal rounds.
“Nobody’s raced there in F2 or F3, so therein lies a sort of leveller for everyone.
“Being effectively a street track with a little bit more run-off in the shape of Montreal, means that luck will play a big role.
“We expect there’ll probably be lots of red flags, lots of safety cars, and so we need to make sure that we make the right calls at the right time, especially in the feature race, and making sure we’re on the right side of any safety cars.
“And if, like in Melbourne, for example, in qualifying, there is a late red flag, and we have to make a call as to a last-minute run plan change, we need to make sure we execute that well and scenario plan effectively, which, touch wood, we’ve normally done a fairly good job of doing.”
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