The Next Generation: Gabriele Mini

How my motorsport journey started

“It started thanks to my dad. He was a driver himself, racing in Sicily with his car in a slalom – hillclimb kind of races. And when I was one, he bought me a go-kart. I didn’t drive it, though, until I was two and a half, because I was really scared of the engine noise.

“When I was two and a half, I started driving, and little by little, we just stepped up the level until racing for European and world championships.

“[I went to] plenty [of my dad’s races], pretty much all of them. That’s how I knew a lot about motorsport, and how I knew that I loved it.”

How my motorsport journey is going

“We didn’t have, let’s say, the easiest of seasons. But I think that speed has always been there. So, so far, it’s going well. This season, at the moment, is going also pretty well. So we’ll just see how it ends.”

My standout performance so far in 2026

“The sprint race in Melbourne, starting from last and being able to fight for the podium spots at the end of the race, was probably the best so far [going from 21st to sixth]. And the Miami [feature] win, of course, was also a really good race. But that was a more strategic one, rather than pace-wise. In Melbourne, we just were flying, so it was really amazing.”

My strengths as a driver

“To be honest, it’s hard to say the strengths. It’s easier probably for my engineer to tell you that, rather than myself, because I know the things I have to work on, but I don’t really focus too much on the things I’m good at.”

My weaknesses as a driver

“I’m not going to say it, but of course there are some things that, in certain moments or in certain parts of the weekend, maybe I can work on and try to do differently to achieve a better result. But it’s not always, let’s say, one proper thing that you say, ‘Oh, it’s always the same’. But it’s just little details.

“But in the end, I think it’s really, really hard to do a weekend where you do 100% of the things correct. Maybe we are talking about even one mistake in free practice that can compromise your session, you know. So, these kind of little things that you always need to work on to try and achieve a perfect weekend.”

My most memorable achievement so far

“Probably the F4 Championship. Straight away, first season in single-seaters against the best F4 drivers, because the Italian championship was the highest and still is the highest level [among all F4 championships]. Winning and dominating the season the way we did was probably amazing.

“F3 and Formula Regional also were two very good championships which, sadly, we didn’t manage to win, but we still finished second.

“And now, we’ll see how this season will go.”

F3 champion Leonardo Fornaroli and runner-up Gabriele Mini (left)

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

My expectations for the remainder of the 2026 season

“Well, it’s hard to set any expectation. We know it’s really, in a way, unpredictable, because you can’t really predict anything in F2. So I just set goals, which is to try and be as consistent and to maximise everything whenever it’s possible. And, once again, we will see the result only at the end, in December.”

How I got into the Alpine Academy

“It was a lot of talking with them before joining. Thanks to my management, they agreed on signing me; they sent their proposal and then we signed with them.

“And since then, we’ve always been for the last three years together. So, it’s been a very big help, both in and off track. And they keep on helping me together with my [All Road] management, my family and all the people that love me.

“It’s a lot of work going on, especially on post-session or pre-session feedback and tips. Even talking with the engineers, being able to test the simulator, being able to test with them and being able also to talk with the [F1] drivers themselves. It’s a really big help.”

In what year I expect my F1 debut

“Hopefully, next year will be probably the most reasonable one. But we’ll see. I mean, if it’s not next year, in two years. But of course, it needs to be shortly.”

Gabriele Mini, MP Motorsport

Photo by: Dom Gibbons / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Gabriele Mini’s career so far

*season in progress

2026 Formula 2 standings

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