TRIDENT Team Manager Giacomo Ricci aims to improve the team in 2026 as he reflected on a tough 2025 F2 season. The Italian outfit finished last in the Teams’ Standings with only two points scored by Sami Meguetounif.
Despite their rough season, Ricci remains positive for the upcoming season. Speaking at the Abu Dhabi post-season test, where TRIDENT started working with their new lineup of Laurens van Hoepen and John Bennett, Ricci expressed: “It’s not been the greatest season, I have to say. We have been trying hard without finding the right way. We had some positive results here and there throughout the season, especially in Qualifying.
“In the races, we were not lucky at times, like when the strategy does not go in your direction, and that happened on a couple of occasions, which is a bit unfortunate for us.“
Working hard for the future
Ricci is leaving the fruitless season behind and looking forward to getting back on track in 2026. When speaking of the upcoming season, Ricci stated: “We are working hard for the future, in order to move things forward. Both seats are signed for the upcoming season, with both John [Bennett] and Laurens [van Hoepen], so we are really happy about our line-up.
“Now we are using this post-season test to investigate all areas that we believe were not done in the past in order to provide the best package to our drivers for the upcoming season.”
When asked whether TRIDENT knew what their areas of improvement were for 2026, Ricci responded: “We have an idea on what did not work perfectly. We know that we have a good car for the street circuits, while on the other tracks we have to improve.
“The grid of course is very tight, so when you are off three or four tenths, it’s a lot. So, we know what we have to do, and the engineers and everyone are working as hard as possible to move things forward for the future. This is our target and we will do our very best to achieve this.”
2026 lineup
John Bennett returns to Formula 2 for his second campaign, this time with TRIDENT. Joining Bennett is Laurens van Hoepen, who steps up from Formula 3 for his first full-time campaign in 2026. The Dutch driver raced in the latter part of the 2025 season with the team from Baku onwards. With Bennett’s experience and van Hoepen’s recent outing with the team, the team hopes for a better season in 2026.
Speaking about the duo, Ricci said: “They are also learning. John [Bennett] has one year of experience with the car, this is a plus for sure, and Laurens did the last three rounds with us plus the post-season test, so he is getting experience, getting more comfortable with the team and the car.
“So it’s all positive. We are really dedicating this time not to the final performance, but to further our understanding. With the post-season test the times do not count, so I am never worried so much.
“The most important thing is when the time comes next year, when it counts, to be up on pace and to be able to compete to stay within the top 10 positions, it’s our target, it would be the first step for us.”
As the team concluded the post-season test with a clear understanding of their targets for the 2026 F2 season, they are hopeful that their improvements will show when the real racing begins.
