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Bennett Snatches Austria F2 Sprint Victory With Last-Lap Pass on Montoya
Trident driver John Bennett pounced on a fading Sebastian Montoya in the closing corners at the Red Bull Ring to claim Sprint Race victory after an opening-lap multi-car melee.
By Michael de Vries - 2026-06-27T13:18:31.000Z - 2 min read
A dramatic final-lap overtake delivered John Bennett victory in Saturday’s Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Red Bull Ring, as the Trident driver hunted down long-time leader Sebastian Montoya in the dying moments. Montoya had seemed destined for his maiden series win, only for severe tyre degradation to leave him defenseless across the final sector.
The 28-lap contest began with immediate drama when pole-sitter Montoya made a sluggish start, allowing Bennett to sweep ahead into Turn 1. Further back in the pack, chaos erupted at Turn 2 when Rafael Camara tagged Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak from behind. The chain reaction sent Inthraphuvasak into Oliver Goethe, spinning the MP Motorsport entry and triggering a multi-car collision.
Dino Beganovic, Cian Shields and Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. were all caught up in the melee alongside Goethe and Inthraphuvasak, forcing several retirements. Nikola Tsolov managed to take evasive action, dropping to 15th before the Safety Car scrambled to neutralize the field. Race Direction confirmed that the Turn 2 crash would be formally investigated after the race.
Racing resumed on Lap 4, with Bennett initially managing the restart cleanly ahead of Montoya. The Prema driver quickly found his rhythm, however, closing the gap to Bennett and reclaiming the race lead with a decisive pass on Lap 8. Montoya then established a steady buffer, maintaining control of the pace through the middle phase of the Sprint.
Behind the leaders, mid-race positions shuffled following a Virtual Safety Car period triggered by Colton Herta’s retirement. Camara found himself struggling for pace after the restart, losing fourth position to Alex Dunne on Lap 17. The Invicta driver lost another place shortly afterwards as Gabriele Minì surged past to take fifth.
As the race entered its final laps, Montoya’s early pace began to take a heavy toll on his tyres. Bennett remorselessly chipped away at the lead, closing onto the Colombian’s tail as they commenced the final tour of the Spielberg circuit. With Montoya unable to defend through the final sequence of corners, Bennett executed the winning move to secure victory for Trident.
Montoya crossed the line 1.496 seconds adrift to take second place, while Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez completed the podium just three tenths further back. Dunne held off a late charge from Minì to seal fourth, with the Italian crossing the line right in the Rodin driver's exhaust spray. Camara ended up sixth, ahead of Roman Bilinski, Kush Maini, Tsolov and Noel Leon.