Sebastián Montoya believes his second-place finish in the 2026 Formula 2 Austrian GP Sprint Race gave PREMA Racing renewed motivation after a difficult start to the season.
Montoya led most of Saturday’s Sprint Race at the Red Bull Ring after reclaiming first place from John Bennett on lap eight. He then worked to break the Trident driver’s DRS before a late Virtual Safety Car brought the pair back together.
Bennett closed in during the final laps and used a switchback at Turn 4 to take the lead from Montoya on the last tour. The Colombian held on to second place, securing his first podium of the season despite narrowly missing out on victory.
Speaking to the media, including Pit Debrief, after the F2 Sprint Race at the Austrian GP, Montoya admitted that losing the lead so late left him with mixed emotions. However, the result offered encouragement after PREMA struggled to reproduce the pace it had shown during his 2025 campaign.
“I think yes and no, especially after leading most of the race. It felt quite good. I think when the Virtual Safety Car came out there at the end, I went, ‘You have to be kidding me.’ I did the hard work of leaving him out of the DRS and everything.”
“But I’m happy with the podium, honestly, with the year we’ve had. It hasn’t been what we’ve wanted, especially after last year, having so much pace. It’s been a difficult season.”
“Honestly, this weekend was quite difficult. Practice wasn’t the best. The first qualifying runs weren’t really good. Yesterday, I did a pretty strong lap to put myself in the top 10. And our race pace has always been quite strong.”
“Today, we just struggled a little bit more, but, no, I’m happy with P2, especially being able to get back the lead, lead most of the race and have really strong pace. I think that gives us a good reference for what we want for tomorrow. And, yeah, I’m happy to be here.”
Montoya rewards PREMA’s work behind the scenes
Montoya also valued delivering the result in front of his father, former Formula 1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya.
However, he placed greater emphasis on rewarding the engineers and mechanics who had worked to improve PREMA’s car during a challenging campaign.
The Italian team had shown competitive race pace at different stages of the year but struggled to produce consistent speed across complete weekends. Montoya felt that returning a PREMA car to the front gave the team visible evidence of its progress.
“Yeah, it feels really nice. I think, especially for me, the biggest thing is it’s been a really difficult season for us. And there’s been a lot of work behind the scenes.”
“People have seen it in the races. We’ve been quite strong, but we haven’t had the actual speed in the car. And we’ve been working really hard with the engineers and mechanics.”
“Just to get this for them, I think it’s really nice. I think it was really nice for them to see the car at the front again with the speed that we had.”
“And, yeah, we didn’t have enough to fight John today. But, no, I was really happy with what we’ve built so far, especially over this weekend, and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Late interruption changes the tyre picture
High temperatures placed additional demands on the tyres during the Sprint Race, although Montoya found the conditions relatively manageable while running in clean air at the front.
The race changed when Colton Herta stopped between Turns 3 and 4, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. The interruption reduced tyre temperatures and erased much of Montoya’s advantage over Bennett.
Montoya explained that the worn tyres became harder to bring back into their operating window after the neutralisation.
“Honestly, it was pretty easy at the front. And I was quite happy with where I was. I think the biggest thing is, as soon as you get a Safety Car or a Virtual Safety Car, the tyres drop.”
“And since you have less rubber, it’s harder to warm them up, so you slide more. And I think this is where we were missing today.”
“But, yeah, it’s really easy to lock up the rears or lock up the fronts under braking, especially because the brakes are so hot. As you said, it’s a really hot day, and especially with the race at the time it was.”
“Turn 6, Turn 7, Turn 9, the car was really moving a lot. And you could see it also from the TV. John, at the beginning, he was fast, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I think this guy isn’t going to last long.’ But in the end, I was the one that dropped more.”
“But I think we both had really good speed, and I’m excited for tomorrow, and I’m really happy with the result we had today.”
Montoya enjoys clean battle with Bennett during F2 Sprint Race at the Austrian GP
Montoya and Bennett exchanged the lead without contact despite fighting intensely throughout the race.
Bennett initially beat Montoya into Turn 1 before the PREMA driver used DRS and a late-braking move at Turn 4 to reclaim first place. The pair then managed their tyres before resuming their battle in the closing stages.
Pit Debrief asked Montoya how enjoyable that clean contest had been and how drivers balanced risk against reward when planning an overtake.
“Yeah, I think from my side, everyone knows that I like overtaking and I go late on the brakes. And, yeah, I think at this point in F2, you know how to race. I think the level here is quite strong.”
“All the drivers respect each other quite a lot. And we’re smart enough to, most of the time, do moves that we know we can stick. We’re not going to dive-bomb someone, lock up and then smash into the back of them or into the side of them.”
“And especially today, leading the race, I think we both really wanted to win. And I think that’s what you also get. But, yeah, I really enjoyed the race today.”
“I enjoy racing in general, I think. And we’re really lucky, especially this year, with Miami and Montreal as well. There was a lot of overtaking. Australia had a lot of overtaking.”
“So, yeah, I really enjoy it. We had a good fight with John, obviously. I would have liked to come out in front, but you win some, you lose some.”
“But, yeah, even at the beginning of the race, I think we both knew what we wanted. We didn’t really put up much of a fight at the beginning. We saw that I was a little bit quicker.”
“And then after that, I didn’t even try to defend in the middle phase because I knew we were quick enough to pull away or just mind our own business. And that’s exactly what we did.”
“So, yeah, it was good fun. And I’m excited for tomorrow to hopefully have a little bit more of that.”
Podium provides motivation after difficult start
Montoya had entered the F2 Spielberg Round at the Austrian GP without the results he expected after demonstrating his potential during the previous season.
He therefore viewed the podium as more than a personal achievement. The result gave PREMA a reward for its work and helped maintain morale during a period when the team had not consistently achieved its targets.
“I think from my side, especially with the results last year, not even to myself, I think to everyone, I was able to show what I’m able to do. And this year hasn’t been the easiest.”
“So, more than me, it’s for the whole team. It hasn’t been easy. We’ve been working really hard. And when you’re not getting the results you want and you go through these difficult times, these results help the team keep up the motivation, you know, keep up the hard work.”
“And, yeah, it’s also really enjoyable. I missed being here. I think last year I could have had a couple more, but due to things outside of my control, we weren’t able to get them.”
“But I’m really happy to be here again. And, yeah, I think you just need to keep working. This gives you good motivation, more motivation for the future, more fuel to keep working.”
“And as I said, tomorrow, anything can happen, especially at a track like this. And you can do a lot of overtaking. We have really good speed.”
“And, yeah, last year I almost finished on the podium after contact with John. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully this year we don’t touch.”
PREMA’s progress ‘isn’t always a straight line’
Despite the podium at the F2 Sprint Race at the Austrian GP, Montoya stopped short of declaring that PREMA had completed its turnaround.
He pointed to several weekends where the car had shown potential before the team encountered setbacks. PREMA looked quick in Monaco but gave Montoya a difficult car to handle, while its promising Barcelona practice pace did not carry into qualifying.
“I don’t want to answer it like this, but I would say the forward momentum has been coming. But let’s just say the improvement isn’t always a straight line. I’m going to be honest.”
“In Monaco, we had a really quick car. We had a really competitive car. It was just really hard to drive. And I made a small mistake in the end. I was coming for P2. And, yeah, in the last corner, I made a mistake.”
“Then last weekend, in practice, we were really strong in Barcelona. And then we got to qualifying and we were struggling. So it has been really difficult.”
“In Australia, we were really quick. I was coming for the top five again. And we just got a little bit unlucky. But, yeah, I think we have been working really hard.”
“I think it’s quite clear that the car isn’t where it’s meant to be and where we thought it was going to be. But regardless, I know how good I am. I know what I can do.”
“And I know that, with whatever I have, I’ll get the most out of it. Obviously, I want to get myself the best car for the future. I want to keep working.”
“And tomorrow, we have a good possibility. I think today we learned a lot. There are very clear things that we have to improve. And I’m excited for that.”
“So, obviously, I would love to say, ‘Yeah, from here on, we’re going to be the quickest car.’ No, I can’t say that because the reality is F2 is so tight.”
“And every weekend, everything changes so much due to the conditions, how tight the championship is and how high the level of the drivers is. So we just need to keep working, keep our heads down, and I think the results will come by themselves.”
Montoya’s F2 Feature Race at the Austrian GP ended before he could build on Saturday’s podium. He collided with Joshua Dürksen and Rafael Villagómez on the approach to Turn 3 on the opening lap, forcing both Montoya and Villagómez to retire.
That early exit underlined Montoya’s warning that progress rarely follows a straight line. Nevertheless, his Sprint Race performance showed that both he and PREMA could still compete at the front when they put the pieces together.
