GB3 Championship runner-up John Bennett scored a superb eighth place finish in his maiden FIA Formula 2 Feature Race during his debut weekend in Qatar.
The British driver, who won three GB3 races in 2024, acquitted himself well as he made the big jump to the main F1 feeder category, building his pace well as the weekend went on and qualifying inside the top-20.
Starting 19th on the grid for Saturday's Sprint Race, Bennett gave a first glimpse of his race craft, as he climbed up to 12th place in the 23-lap contest, which was won by GB3 graduate Ollie Bearman.
But in a chaotic Feature Race on Sunday, Bennett was one of the stars of the event. Despite stalling on the grid and falling a lap behind, the dramatic contest featured multiple safety car appearances, and allowed Bennett to claw back ground.
Even so, there was plenty of work to do, but he showed the clean racing he'd demonstrated in GB3 to climb to eighth place at the end of the 30 lap race, scoring four points in the process.
Several other GB3 graduates enjoyed a strong weekend at the Lusail International Circuit. 2021 race-winner Christian Mansell banked a best result of sixth in his second F2 weekend, while Max Esterson, another making his debut, immediately established himself a strong contender amongst the midfield runners. Cian Shields also performed well, finishing the Feature Race just outside the points-paying positions in 11th. GB3 champion Luke Browning earned a best result of 11th in his second F2 event.
“A very, very busy weekend! I'm extremely grateful to the VAR team for giving me this opportunity after we enjoyed a consistently strong test together in FIA Formula 3 recently," Bennett said.
"It was a big jump to make and one that you have to take with both hands to use as the perfect opportunity to educate yourself. Straight from the off on Friday it was important to get the laps in and learn the car, and soon we were looking in good shape.
"I felt that we did a great job in our first race on Saturday. The car got stronger and stronger and we really grew into the race from where we started. Making up seven places was exactly what we needed, so I'm delighted with that for a debut. Sunday started with difficulty, but we kept our heads and called the strategy perfectly to charge through for a fantastic points finish.
"All-in-all, I'm very happy with that and there were a lot of positives to take from Qatar. Now we'll get back to business straight away this weekend and aim to make more progress at Abu Dhabi."