Close to the top ten in the Spanish Feature Race

The Feature Race at the Madrid Ring, which concluded the eleventh round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship season, saw Trident Motorsport compete in a closely fought and eventful race. Laurens Van Hoepen finished the race in twelfth place after a comeback built in the second half of the race, while John Bennett was forced to retire after being involved in a collision during the heat of the race.

Van Hoepen started from seventh place, running the first part of the race on the Hard tires. Bennett, sixteenth on the grid, adopted the same strategy, aiming to extend the first stint to take advantage of the Soft tires in the second half of the race.

When the lights went out, Van Hoepen made a cautious start, losing a position due to the difference in compound, and finishing eighth at the end of the first lap. Bennett, however, made good use of the start, gaining a position and moving up to fifteenth. The first part of the race was marked by the deployment of the Safety Car on lap three, which brought the field back together. At the restart, Van Hoepen was in eighth place, while Bennett was fifteenth.

At the restart, Van Hoepen pitted for Soft tires, thus anticipating his mandatory pit stop. This strategic choice allowed the Dutch driver to tackle the second part of the race on Soft tires. Bennett made his pit stop one lap later, returning to the track with the same compound. After the pit stops, Van Hoepen found himself at the back of the order, but immediately began a gradual climb back up the order. On lap 12, he completed a strong overtaking move, moving up to eighteenth place, and then gained two more places on the following lap, moving up to sixteenth. Bennett attempted to move ahead, but was unable to complete the maneuver.

On lap 18, the race was once again neutralized by the deployment of the Safety Car. During this tense phase, Bennett was also forced to surrender, stopping his car at the side of the track. Van Hoepen thus found himself in fourteenth place at the restart on lap 21, ready to continue his comeback. The Dutchman immediately began to make up ground and, over the following laps, maintained a consistent pace in the midfield. The Trident Motorsport driver held onto fourteenth place, and moved up to thirteenth on lap 30. Van Hoepen then continued to push until the checkered flag, even managing to capitalize on a penalty handed out to a rival.

Thanks to this further movement in the standings, the Dutch driver finished the Feature Race in twelfth place.

Trident Motorsport leaves Madrid after securing a podium finish in Saturday's Sprint Race with Van Hoepen and is now looking ahead to the next round of the championship, scheduled for two weeks on the Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan.

Giacomo Ricci: "The Feature Race in Madrid didn't allow us to fully realize the potential shown throughout the weekend. Laurens Van Hoepen fought back, facing a difficult first half after his early stop and making up several positions in the second half. Twelfth place doesn't reflect our potential. The timing of the second Safety Car didn't work in our favor. It's a shame for John Bennett, who, after adopting a similar strategy to his teammate, was forced to retire. Now we have two weeks to analyze the data from Madrid and prepare as best we can for Baku, where we aim to have another competitive weekend."