Laurens Van Hoepen delivered an impressive comeback drive during the Feature Race at the 2026 F2 Barcelona-Catalunya round, going from P13 to P5.
The TRIDENT driver looked fast from the start of the weekend, topping Free Practice with a promising time of 1:26.776. However, the Dutchman was forced to settle for P14 in Qualifying after missing out on his final lap due to the red flag caused by Ritomo Miyata’s incident.
van Hoepen struggled during the Sprint Race, finishing P19 before resetting for Sunday’s Feature Race. Running on the alternative strategy, Van Hoepen started on hard tyres and later switched to softs, allowing him to make his way through the field and up to P5.
Speaking after the 2026 F2 Barcelona-Catalunya Feature Race, van Hoepen shared: “I mean, I’m very happy with the race. The pace was really strong, so just a bit of a shame to start so far back because also in qualifying we had very good pace.”
“But the Red Flag of course stopped me from improving on my second lap while I was in the fight for pole, P2, P3. So I am happy and just ready to go again in Red Bull Ring.”
Bold strategy and bold overtakes
Reflecting on the brave alternative strategy, van Hoepen explained that he knew starting on hard tyres would prove difficult in the opening stages of the race, with the drivers who started on softs being able to make moves quicker. However, the 20-year-old remained patient early on before charging through the field on his soft tyres.
“It was a bit difficult in the beginning keeping the option tyres behind,” said Van Hoepen. “But we knew that and I think we chose a really good strategy in the end.”
“The pace, especially in the final parts of the race was so much quicker than everybody, it was just so much easier to make the overtakes which was just really nice.”
A highlight of van Hoepen’s recovery drive was a stunning double overtake on Cian Shields and Sebastián Montoya at Turn 12.
When asked about his overtakes, Van Hoepen noted: “There were quite a few but I think the one where I took two guys in one corner, like around the outside that was pretty good. I think those ones were really special. So I’m happy with that.”
Qualifying focus for Spielberg
With Round 6 at Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring coming up next, van Hoepen explained that his main goal is to have a strong Qualifying session so that he can start higher up the grid and make use of his race pace.
“I’m looking forward to trying to get back on track. We can go back fighting for a good qualifying position and then fight from there,” he shared.
Despite already claiming two podiums in 2026 and sitting eighth in the Drivers’ Standings with 43 points, Van Hoepen is still searching for his maiden Formula 2 victory.
