Bennett Takes P7 in F2 Montreal for TRIDENT
John Bennett landed his best Qualifying result of the season in f2 montreal, taking P7 for TRIDENT on Friday afternoon. The result gave him a clean reference point after a session interrupted by two Red Flag stoppages.
It also kept TRIDENT’s weekend moving in the right direction. Bennett said the team had worked hard over winter and kept improving every weekend, and he added that the Montreal result came after a steady build from practice into qualifying.
Bennett’s P7 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Bennett said he had done “a lot of work since the last round on the sim and a lot of preparation with the team,” and that the car felt in a good place from the start of the weekend. He pointed to FP, where he was P11, as the first sign that the package was heading the right way.
“Just putting in a lot of work since the last round on the sim and a lot of preparation with the team. But it felt in a good place from the start of this weekend. FP was in the right direction with P11 and then in quali, just every lap improving on the last,” Bennett said. He added that he “kind of hooked it together in the last lap,” even though “there was still some time here and there.”
Red Flags and TRIDENT Pace
Two Red Flag stoppages could easily have broken the rhythm of the session. Bennett said he stayed “quite focused on the job at hand,” a response he linked to the second year of his Formula 2 career and the need to reset quickly when a session keeps stopping.
“I think I stayed quite focused on the job at hand. I think for sure that's something that would have thrown me off last year,” he said. “But that's something that I've really improved on as a driver coming into my second year. In Formula 2 you never really know quite what's going to happen.”
Laurens van Hoepen gave TRIDENT another lift by taking pole around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Bennett congratulated him directly and said, “They've worked so hard over winter, and we keep just improving every weekend. And of course, also a huge congratulations to Laurens on pole. So yeah, a good weekend for all of us.”
Montreal Sets TRIDENT Up
The Montreal pace matters because Bennett said the new track seemed to suit the car, and he expects the racing to be strong. He said, “So I think it will be a super exciting weekend for sure. Just like Miami, this new track seems to really suit this car. Qualifying was close, I think the racing will be great, so looking forward to it. And the fans are great. I think they're loving having us here.”
For TRIDENT, P7 and pole in the same qualifying session put the team in a stronger place after the effort it had already shown across the campaign. Bennett’s result was personal progress, but it also left the team with both drivers inside the front group on a weekend where position-setting had already shown how little margin there is between a clean lap and a lost one.
