Dino Beganovic took his first podium in several race weekends when he finished third in Saturday’s F2 sprint at Spa.
But the joy had barely settled before the Swede was called to the race stewards.
“What was I supposed to do?” Beganovic says to CL Motorsport.
Beganovic climbed two positions
Formula 2 is the class just below Formula 1, and Saturday’s shorter sprint race was held as a warm-up to this weekend’s Belgian GP. Beganovic, who competes for the French team DAMS and is part of Ferrari’s talent program, started fifth but made his way to third place after a strong start and smart tire management.
The race was won by Joshua Dürksen from Paraguay, who held off Norwegian Martinius Stenshorne in a decisive last-lap duel after the safety car left the track late in the race.
For Beganovic, the result was a long-awaited break in the trend. The season started strongly, but in recent race weekends, the Swede has struggled to even reach the top ten.
“It’s been so difficult these past few weekends. It feels good to let go a bit now,” he says.
After the race, he was happy but not completely satisfied.
“It was a really good race, but I’m still not entirely satisfied. The positive thing is that the conditions are better and that we’re up there at the front again.”
The pace was real
At the press conference after the race, Beganovic was asked by CL Motorsport whether the result was due to his own pace or the circumstances of the race.
“I think our pace was good today. The turning point came yesterday when we qualified in the top ten for both races, something we haven’t managed in several race weekends. I even think we could have moved forward further with more laps, so this makes me happy and gives me confidence for tomorrow,” he said.
Beganovic also mentioned that both he and the team have made major internal changes after the weak period.
Beganovic called to the stewards after the formation lap
The podium finish had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, however. After the race, Beganovic was called to the race stewards following an incident at the end of the formation lap—the warm-up lap before the actual start.
“I just saw that they braked out of nowhere. I was shocked, and to avoid hitting them, I swerved to the side. I’m very surprised by how much they slowed down,” Beganovic tells CL Motorsport.
The Swede himself was questioning the summons.
“What was I supposed to do?”
When this article was published, the stewards had not yet announced a decision. The result from the sprint is therefore formally preliminary. The article will be updated when the decision is made.
The feature race takes place on Sunday morning
Sunday’s longer feature race starts at 10:00 AM local time, hours before the Formula 1 race on the same track. Beganovic will start from sixth on the grid following Friday’s qualifying.
The race is expected to be a strategic guessing game. Tire supplier Pirelli has brought the softest tire type, super soft, which none of the drivers have had time to gather data on in race trim.
“Already on the second fast lap, there was a clear degradation. It’s going to be a real challenge tomorrow,” Beganovic said at the press conference.
In the championship, Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov leads ahead of Italian Gabriele Minì, while Beganovic, after his podium finish, is chasing to move up the standings ahead of the second half of the season.
Facts: Dino Beganovic
Age: 22 years (born January 19, 2004)
Grown up in: Linköping
Team 2026: DAMS Lucas Oil, car number 7
Talent program: Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, member since 2020
Achievements: Formula Regional European Champion 2022. Seventh in F2 2025 with a victory in Baku. Has driven free practice sessions in Formula 1 for Ferrari.
