Britain’s John Bennett got his first points of the 2026 FIA Formula 2 season in the Feature Race in Barcelona, saying it showed what he and his Trident team were capable of.
Bennett, 22, perhaps should have already been off the mark this season, but collisions ended both races in Montreal whilst in promising positions, and he was forced to start at the back in Monaco after a crash in Qualifying, where there was potential for a strong starting position.
The British driver overcame another Qualifying set-back to score his first points of the year.
He was among several to see their second runs in Qualifying ruined by a red flag because Ritomo Miyata had crashed his Hitech at the final corner, which left Bennett towards the back of the grid.
He described the car as “absolutely planted” on Sunday, as he and Dutch team mate, Laurens Van Hoepen, gained a combined 19 positions to cross the line fifth and seventh. Bennett even set the fastest lap to pick up an extra point.
The pair, who started Sunday’s Feature Race 13th and 19th, started on the harder compound of Pirelli tyre, before switching to the softs to chase down rivals who were now on older rubber.
A Feature Race fightback to be proud of ?
Laurens van Hoepen marched his way forward from P13 to finish P5, whilst John Bennett went from P18 to P7 ?#F2 #BarcelonaGP @trident_team pic.twitter.com/wKOG2My2cJ
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 14, 2026
“A fantastic end to the weekend for us as a whole team,” Bennett said. “We felt like we were out of position after qualifying which set us back a bit, but we made up for it with our race pace across the two races for sure.”
He added: “To move up so many places, achieve fastest lap and a great points haul, shows a lot more of what we are capable of.
“We’ll take that into the next few races where I hope we can be really strong once again.”
The result is timely for Bennett, with his home race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, only three weeks away.
He’s keen to build on this result and aims to bring home a “tremendous result” for his team in front of his home support.
Computer game stuff from Laurens van Hoepen ?
The Dutch driver with a high-quality double overtake around the outside ?#F2 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/Bki3iTbX6w
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 14, 2026
Image Credit – Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty
