Photo: Gedlich Racing
The 2026 Formula Winter Series began in chaotic fashion at a wet Estoril last Saturday.
A two-day test immediately preceded the season opener, and Alexander Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing) was the driver to beat. He set a 1m40.653s to edge Dries Van Langendonck (Rodin Motorsport) by 0.075 seconds. Alisha Palmowski (Campos Racing) and Rocco Coronel (VAR) were also within 0.2s of his pace, and a second covered the top 12 in the 31-driver field.
There were two qualifying sessions on Saturday morning, and in Q1 a combination of bad weather and red flag periods triggered by Oscar Repetto (Cram Motorsport), Rafaela Ferreira (Campos Racing) and Pedro Lima (VAR) led to only 16 drivers registering laptimes fast enough (within 107% of the pole pace) to qualify for race one.
Van Langendonck claimed pole with a 1.79s gap to team-mate Alfie Slater, and Palmowski was 3.508s off the pace in third. Teodor Borenstein (Jenzer Motorsport) was 3.591s behind in fourth, and the only other drivers within five seconds of Van Langendonck were Levi Arn (Jenzer), Ruta and Ary Bansal (US Racing).
Thomas Bearman and team-mate Coronel were among the ‘non-qualifiers’ in 21st and 24th, with the next seven drivers (including those who caused the red flag periods) ending qualifying with no laptimes next to their name at all.
Following the session, stewards decided that the pace shown by drivers in testing meant that all 31 could contest race one.
The order of the top 16 was set by Q1’s results, but they had no bearing on the starting positions beyond that. Stewards decided to use testing’s results for the rest of the order, putting Coronel and Bearman 17th and 18th on the grid, with Ethan Lennon (Rodin) 19th having registered no laptimes at all in qualifying.
Repetto got to start 20th, despite causing a red flag period, and at the back of the grid were Ferreira and Mathilda Paatz (Mathilda Racing).
Drivers’ second-best laps in Q1 set the grid for race two at FWinter Series events, but only three drivers put down a second laptime that could count. Palmowski set a 2m02.045s to earn pole by 1.575s over Felipe Reijs, whose AKM Motorsport team-mate Vittorio Orsini was a further 0.826s behind.
Pre-event testing’s results again set the rest of the grid, meaning Ruta qualified fourth ahead of Van Langendonck, Coronel, Bearman and Bansal.
Q2 was faster, and disrupted far less. AKM’s Abdullah Kamel was the only driver who failed to lap fast enough to qualify for race three, and Lima was absent from the session, but permission was still granted to race.
Van Langendonck set a 1m56.953s late on to beat Lennon to pole by 0.312s. Slater completed a Rodin 1-2-3, 1.169s behind his pole-setting team-mate and 0.17s ahead of Coronel in fourth. Bearman and Repetto were also within two seconds of pole, and three seconds covered the top 15.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Dries Van Langendonck Rodin Motorsport 1m58.349s
2 Alfie Slater Rodin Motorsport +1.790s
3 Alisha Palmowski Campos Racing +3.508s
4 Teodor Borenstein Jenzer Motorsport +3.591s
5 Levi Arn Jenzer Motorsport +4.048s
6 Alexander Ruta Van Amersfoort Racing +4.629s
7 Ary Bansal US Racing +4.696s
8 Noah Killion US Racing +5.088s
9 Felipe Reijs AKM Motorsport +5.100s
10 Arjen Kraling US Racing +5.112s
Race 2 grid
1 Palmowski 2m02.045s
2 Reijs +1.575s
3 Vittorio Orsini AKM Motorsport +2.401s
4 Ruta -21.392s
5 Van Langendonck -21.317s
6 Rocco Coronel Van Amersfoort Racing -21.240s
7 Thomas Bearman Van Amersfoort Racing -21.179s
8 Bansal -21.159s
9 Ethan Lennon Rodin Motorsport -21.155s
10 Slater -20.727s
Race 3 grid
1 Van Langendonck 1m56.953s
2 Lennon +0.312s
3 Slater +1.169s
4 Coronel +1.339s
5 Bearman +1.609s
6 Oscar Repetto Cram Motorsport +1.637s
7 Borenstrein +2.030s
8 Olexander Savinkov US Racing +2.141s
9 Arn +2.270s
10 Ruta +2.366s