“A long time coming” - John Bennett reflects on special maiden Formula 2 win in Austria sprint

Bennett took his maiden F2 win in Austria | Credit: Formula 2

“I'm really just trying to enjoy every second of this.”

Barely a half-hour since Trident's John Bennett climbed out of his car in Austria, he had still not been able to process or soak in his emotions. A race-long duel with PREMA’s Sebastián Montoya in Formula 2's Austria sprint had finally fallen in his favour on the final lap.

Bennett has only completed two race weekends at the Red Bull Ring in F2, yet there was an air of redemption this time around, brought about by the final laps in both Austria sprint races.

He had qualified on reverse grid pole for the Austria sprint in 2025, driving for Van Amersfoort Racing as a rookie. Yet, like most drivers finding themselves at the front for the first time, Bennett would face his challenges.

Dropping away as he faced tyre wear, Bennett found himself involved in a multi-car collision on the final lap, unsighted by a line of crashed cars as he came into Turn 3. It would end up being a tale of the ‘flipped around’ reality the Briton would find out in his rookie F2 campaign.

Credit: GB3

Bennett’s path to F2 was an unusual one. Only a few months after he’d finished runner-up in GB3 to Louis Sharp in September 2024, he was thrust into the daunting position of replacing the outgoing Enzo Fittipaldi at Van Amersfoort Racing, who had scored 61 points and taken the team’s only win in Jeddah.

Although four days of post-season testing in F3 were valuable learning, there is only so much it could have prepared the Briton for what was to come in F2.

Despite the challenge ahead, Bennett would impress many with a sterling drive in the Qatar Feature Race, ascending 11 places to finish eighth. A great first impression, nonetheless, for someone with minimal preparation and the scale of change that Bennett would experience.

But as he would find out, succeeding in F2 wouldn’t just be about performing on just a single day. It is also about maintaining consistency over the course of a season. And for Bennett, he would have plenty of catching up to do in this arena.

While there was the small matter of a much heavier car, powerful brakes and pit stops, Bennett would also have less experience at several tracks compared to the rest of the grid, who had ascended through the conventional path of Formula 4, FRECA and F3.

“Moving into Formula 2 was a very big step and a tricky one. So last year was all about learning,” Bennett would reply when asked by DIVEBOMB about getting used to this new reality.

Bennett would finish several races close to the points in 2025 | Credit: John Bennett Racing

This learning period would see him come close on multiple occasions. Reverse-grid pole in Austria, 11th in Monaco, 12th on home soil in Silverstone, two top-12 finishes around Spa-Francorchamps, before he finally netted a point for finishing 10th in Monza.

“I learned so much with VAR last year, and it was my rookie season. So it was always going to be a big learning curve,” Bennett reflected on his time at the Dutch team. “I have a lot of respect for VAR. It was a great team.”

It was the flashes of speed and raw talent underneath that caught the eyes of Trident team principal Giacomo Ricci, who would bring Bennett into the camp for 2026.

It’s this new perspective and the strong team atmosphere that have helped Bennett push the boundaries in F2 and extract yet more performance. “'I’ve worked super hard on myself. They've taught me a lot. And yeah, every weekend, I think we keep improving,” Bennett implied.

Trident had gone two years since their last race win, and ended 2025 on a disappointing note, scoring only two points all season. For a team whose F3 operations have sent one champion after another to F2, such a difficult run of form hasn’t hampered their progress behind the scenes

“They always kept working. For sure, it can be hard to keep pushing when no results are coming. And I know they've felt very, very motivated this year,” Bennett said, praising the team’s morale in times of adversity.

This hard work would eventually translate into several high-profile results early in 2026, largely centred on Laurens van Hoepen’s success, although Bennett would find himself in strong positions during the season, albeit without much return.

Starting fourth in Canada’s Feature Race, Bennett’s Sunday would come undone after being released into the path of former teammate Rafael Villagómez in the pits.

A qualifying crash in Monaco would hurt his weekend, but an excellent recovery drive from 18th on the road saw him finish seventh in Barcelona. Securing the fastest lap would be the cherry on top for Bennett, who secured his first points of the season.

“We've had pace in the car every weekend now,” he replied, validating the team’s turnaround.

It was almost the perfect timing for Bennett to find form and speed before Austria, almost setting the stage for a special Austrian weekend, around a venue where he had found pace in 2025.

“It isn’t really an outlier,” Bennett said, on his strengths at the Red Bull Ring. “I think this track does suit me a bit.”

“The heavy braking zones have always been a bit of a strength of mine, and I’m comfortable with the high speeds. I think I've just gotten into a good flow around here.”

It was this rhythm that helped Bennett secure ninth in Friday's qualifying, putting him almost perfectly onto the front row for the Saturday sprint alongside Montoya.

A perfect launch off the five red lights would see him into the lead on Saturday, although the path to a maiden win wouldn’t be so straightforward, even if this was one of his stronger circuits.

After the brief safety car period, the Trident man would face immense pressure from Montoya behind, who hounded him into every braking zone lap after lap, looking to find the crucial bit of track to put his PREMA Racing car ahead.

The Colombian would finally make his move on Lap 8, getting ahead into Turn 4, a corner that would become synonymous with both drivers' races in 2026.

Rather than forcing his way back past, Bennett played the patient game. “I watched the races back over the past couple of years,” the Trident man said on his approach. “The leader could lead most of the race, but then be under pressure at the end, just because of the tyre management.”

As Bennett kept himself playing the long game, the crucial call would come in on Lap 18 from his race engineer Leo, a key figure he had worked with during his F3 test with VAR in 2024, now in his ear at Trident. “Let’s stay in striking distance.”

Despite the gap edging slightly past the one-second mark, Bennett would once again bring himself back into play on Lap 21, when the VSC was deployed to recover Colton Herta’s stricken Hitech.

Having driven to his own rhythm and kept his tyres in check, it would all pay off in the final few laps for the Trident man. A gap that sat at one second soon dropped to 0.9 seconds, and then 0.6 seconds, before Bennett found himself right on Montoya’s tail as the drivers rounded the final corner onto the last lap of the race.

By then, it had become evidently clear that the PREMA driver’s tyres were well past their prime level of grip, providing Bennett a golden opportunity to take home victory. “On the last lap, I just said to myself, it's now or never,” he remarked.

As Montoya slid his way out of Turn 1, Bennett kept himself within range, heading into Turn 3. He would then find himself in the crucial position around the outside of Turn 4. Montoya would defend firmly, but his now-worn tyres saw him go extremely deep into the wide right-hander.

Seizing this opportunity, Bennett executed a perfect overtake, switching lines as he made it past heading into the kink of Turn 5, before keeping it clean through the rest of the corners to take a maiden F2 win. A special moment for Trident, who celebrated a first race win in F2 in two years.

“I think we've been waiting a long time for a strong result. So yeah, to have a race like this is a really good feeling,” a delighted Bennett responded, soaking in the emotions of being an F2 winner.

Perhaps it was all meant to be for the youngster from Salisbury. A maiden F2 victory in Austria, with a crucial final lap making the difference once again. His father, Tony, a former GT racer himself, has been a crucial pillar of support all through. Bennett’s race engineer has followed him over from VAR into Trident. Team principal Ricci, who had overseen his growth within the team from day one.

Fittingly, former teammate Villagómez, who shared the same space as Bennett at VAR in 2025 also shared the same podium on the day.

As much as the victory will take a long time to sink in, Bennett will have the Sunday Feature Race to navigate from ninth on the grid. But his eyes are already on the upcoming weekend in Silverstone.

“I mean, next up is Silverstone, my home race, which I'm very excited for,” Bennett said, eager to carry his newfound confidence onto familiar turf.