The 2025 season marks John Bennett‘s first full campaign in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The British driver made his series debut at the Qatar Grand Prix weekend in 2024 with Van Amersfoort Racing, competing in the final two rounds of the season. After scoring points in his debut outing, VAR signed him on for a full-season drive. Prior to his promotion to F2, Bennett finished second in the 2024 GB3 Championship.
Despite his promising performance last season. Six rounds in to Bennett’s first full F2 season, he currently sits at P21 of the 2025 F2 Championship standings.
Perennially behind
In the six qualifying sessions held so far in 2025, Bennett has consistently found himself near the back of the grid. He currently averages P20 in qualifying, with his best performance coming at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where he secured P13 with a lap time of 1:44.866—0.858s behind Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli, the pole-sitter on that occasion.
Despite showing flashes of pace, Bennett has struggled to convert performance into starting positions that place him within striking distance of points.
Early retirements
Bennett has already suffered two race retirements this season. The first came during the Sprint Race where light contact with the barriers damaged his left-rear corner and forced him to pit and retire. The second occurred in the F2 Barcelona Sprint Race following contact with Victor Martins between Turns 6 and 7. The incident left Bennett with terminal car damage and brought an early end to his race.
Penalties and grid drops
Bennett has also found himself on the receiving end of multiple penalties this year, picking up three over the opening six rounds. These have affected both qualifying and race results and have further complicated an already difficult rookie campaign.
Jeddah proved particularly punishing for Bennett. He received his first penalty of the season during qualifying, where stewards deemed him responsible for the red flag stoppage. As a result, he lost his fastest lap, which demoted him from P21 to P22. He incurred a second penalty during the Sprint Race for failing to follow the Safety Car into the pitlane, resulting in a 10-second time penalty.
Best result so far: Monte Carlo Feature Race
The Feature Race at Monaco marked Bennett’s strongest performance of the season to date. In his first visit to the notoriously unforgiving street circuit, he avoided the chaos that claimed nine other drivers and finished P11—just shy of the points.
He was later penalised five seconds for breaching delta time under Safety Car conditions. However, the penalty did not affect his finishing position, and he retained P11.
Eight rounds left
With eight race weekends remaining on the 2025 F2 calendar, Bennett faces a crucial stretch. To secure his place on the grid for 2026, he will need to demonstrate growth, consistency, and resilience. While the first half of his rookie season has been marred by penalties, early retirements, and underwhelming qualifying results, the British driver has also shown glimpses of composure and racecraft—most notably in Monaco.
As the season enters its second half, attention will turn to Bennett to see whether he can rebound, unlock his potential, and finally score the points that have eluded him thus far.
