A RISING FIA Formula 2 star from Salisbury was unlucky not to convert his strong pace into a points finish at the  weekend (August 2 to 3).

John Bennett described his race in the latest meeting of his rookie FIA Formula 2 campaign in Hungary as a “frustrating end to the weekend”.

This comes after 21-year-old John once again impressively challenged for top-10 honours but ultimately ended up in 20th place in the sprint race thanks to a penalty before his car was taken out in the second race.

The Salisbury-based racer came straight into the latest event of the packed FIA F2 calendar fresh from a strong showing at the fearsome Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

Backed by partners Pangea Insurance, StreetSharp Ltd, Lonetree Limited and Lewco Holdings Limited, Bennett quickly had to shift his focus to a trip to Budapest, as the Hungaroring played host to the championship’s latest double-header alongside the F1 showcase event.

Driving for the Van Amersfoort Racing squad, the 2024 GB3 Championship vice champion pumped in a healthy array of laps through free practice to dial himself into the Hungarian GP venue.

After starting with a solid pace in those sessions, he left his best lap until the dying stages of qualifying later on Friday afternoon (August 1), sitting just 0.8s from pole and climbing up to P15 in the final times.

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It all set the scene for the weekend’s two races, with Saturday (August 2) hosting the first of those – the shorter sprint contest.

Picture: James Gasperotti

With no pit stop required and the Hungaroring notoriously tough to overtake at, the fight was on in the opening corners to attempt to make crucial early ground.

Bennett did just that, taking advantage of a multi-car squabble imploding ahead of him to move up two places.

Settling into the race, he then found himself right in the running for a potential top-10 result in the closing laps, with the final tour being a hectic rush to the chequered flag.

Bennett attacked but came home just short of the top 10 on the road. Post-race, an unfortunate time penalty after an early race battle dropped him to a very unrepresentative 20th in the final result.

The weather changed dramatically the following morning, meaning a damp surface in the early stages of the feature race.

From the same starting position, Bennett moved up a place on lap one and continued to climb the field until he reached a strong P12. He went into battle with VAR teammate Rafael Villagomez before Bennett came to the pits for a mandatory stop.

Looking to make up ground and on fresher tyres, he came across Gabriele Mini’s car and, as the two squeezed around a slower rival, Mini moved across into the path of Bennett and tipped the Brit into a lurid spin that caused terminal suspension damage to the #24 VAR car, ending his race without the result he deserved.

John said: “A frustrating end to the weekend, as it started well and we certainly looked to have the speed to compete for points.

“We had a good pace in the second part of qualifying, and that moved us into the window to achieve the top 10 reverse grid pole, which is hugely important at a circuit like this which is hard to pass at.

“Race one so nearly ended with a great result, but a penalty meant we finished well off our on-track position which didn’t at all reflect the pace we had.

“Then in the second race it was a bit messy and we were taken out which was frustrating as again we had very strong pace and were coming up through the field.

“We can look towards the next round knowing that we’re finding speed every time, and getting closer to the points.”

The next two FIA Formula 2 Championship races take place in just over a month’s time (September 5 to 7) at the historic Monza circuit in Italy.