John Bennett scored a maiden victory while Nikola Tsolov won again to boost his title hopes during Formula 2’s visit to the Red Bull Ring.
Trident’s Bennett made the better start from the inside of the front row to beat reversed-grid polesitter Sebastian Montoya to turn one in Saturday’s sprint race. Meanwhile, Tsolov was tagged into a spin at turn three, causing a multiple-car incident and resulting in Oliver Goethe, Tasanapol Inthrapuvasak and Emmo Fittipaldi retiring.
Prema’s Montoya applied pressure on Bennett for several laps before finally getting by at turn four, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez initially keeping pace with the squabbling duo.
Bennett remained within touching distance of Montoya for the next 19 laps, and the pair then locked horns once more on the final tour. Montoya defended the inside into turn four, but Bennett pulled off a switchback move on the exit to snatch the lead back and then held on until the finish to secure an emotional victory.
Montoya finished second, just fending off Villagomez who eradicated a three-second deficit to join the battle again late on.
Championship leader Gabriele Mini was fourth ahead of Invicta Racing’s Rafael Camara, with Roman Bilinski and Kush Maini completing the top eight. Tsolov just missed out on points in ninth, while Hitech GP’s Colton Herta was another retire due to a technical issue.
Campos Racing’s Noel Leon lined up from pole in the feature race, and he made a good getaway to lead his team-mate Tsolov who climbed to second, while Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne slipped two places to fourth behind fellow Alpine junior Gabriele Mini.
Red Bull junior Tsolov snatched the lead from Leon on the opening lap, while Montoya and Villagomez retired after tangling at turn two.
Tsolov made his mandatory stop on lap nine of 40, rejoining ahead of Dunne and Leon who had both pitted earlier. Mini came in on the next tour, and initially remained ahead of Tsolov, who almost immediately swept past into turn three.
Dunne soon passed Mini and Tsolov to take the net lead on lap 13, and he remained ahead for 12 laps, with the latter diving up the inside into turn one to reclaim the advantage. Tsolov moved back into the outright lead once those on the alternate strategy had pitted, and he edged cleat to eventually clinch his fourth win of the season by 3.9s
Dunne, meanwhile, lost a further place to Mini before being embroiled in a frenetic scrap with Camara, Joshua Duerksen and Goethe. Camara fought his way past with five laps to go, but Dunne immediately responded to move back ahead, with Goethe capatisiling to pass the pair into third.
Goethe pulled away to clinch his first F2 podium, with Camara taking fourth ahead of Inthrapuvasak, while Dunne slipped to seventh behind team-mate Marinius Stenshorne. Leon came home eighth ahead of Laurens Van Hoepen and Duerksen. Bennett was just outside of the points in 11th.
Featured image credit: Formula 2 on X
