With the main European leg of the calendar completed, the remaining F2 rounds take place across three months. The disrupted schedule – and F2’s involvement in silly season – would make it easy for drivers to get distracted. Feeder Series spoke to Luke Browning and John Bennett about how they’re staying focused in the closing stages of the championship. 

By Calla Kra-Caskey

F2 doesn’t usually have the same silly season F1 does, but Wednesday’s bombshell announcement that Colton Herta would be switching to the top single-seater support series bucked that trend. 

It’s the first move of its kind in years, and the announcement is one of the first driver confirmations for next year – a topic present in drivers’ minds heading down the stretch. 

“It would be really cool for the championship,” Van Amersfoort Racing’s Bennett told Feeder Series. “You know, we’ve had professional drivers join before with Miyata being a Super Formula champion. So it’s cool having an IndyCar driver come over.

“I think it’ll help bolster the championship and it’ll be interesting to see how he gets on in a very different form of racing to what he’s used to.” 

“If he wants to get to Formula 1, doing Formula 2 is the way to do it,” Hitech’s Browning said. “Wish him all the best if he joins next year.” 

Browning, a member of Williams’ driver academy, is still in contention for the F2 title. He currently has 125 points, 29 off Leonardo Fornaroli’s championship lead. So how can he get into a rhythm over the final four rounds, taking place over four calendar months, and maximise his shot at the title? 

“That’s exactly the question I sat there and asked myself over summer break: What’s this championship going to take to win it? What do I need to do to give myself the best opportunity? What’s that look like for Luke Browning?” he said. 

“There are things that are gonna happen that are outside of my control,” he added. “[I need to] try not to get frustrated with any situation that goes not my way and take motivation in the positive things that happen. I think that’s it. I think it’s staying positive, having a good attitude.”

Browning’s 2025 season gives him plenty to be positive about. He’s been remarkably consistent, taking a sixth-place finish or better at least once in every round. He’s tied for the most podiums with seven, although he hasn’t stood on the top step yet.

His Hitech car is fast, and he’s clearly capable of driving it: even when qualifying has gone poorly, he’s shown his racecraft with brilliant comeback drives in Silverstone and Spa from outside the top 10. 

“How motivating is that, being on the fringe of Formula 1 with Williams looking at me? With 2026 contracts being the way they are, equally it’s important not to look at it when I’m at this stage of Formula 2, but it’s so exciting. 

“The motivation is absolutely through the roof. I’m hoping that all my preparation now shows coming back into Monza after the break.” 

Last year, Browning entered F3’s Monza round – the season finale – just six points off the championship lead. A messy qualifying put him 13th, scuttling his chances at the title.

“At this point last year, I was tired and ready for the season to end,” Browning said. “In Formula 2, I feel like I’m only just starting. It’s like a second year starting for me. I feel like all the rookie mistakes early on in the year is finished. It’s almost like 10 rounds of Formula 3 are done and now I’m going into my second season ready to smash it. 

“We know what happened at the start of my second year of Formula 3. I won the first race and we won Macau [in 2023], so I’m ready to repeat that form.” 

It’s easier said than done, especially since the calendar is sporadic from here on out. The Monza and Baku races have a week between them. After that, there are two months before back-to-back rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to end the season. 

“We’ll just be trying to stay sharp in any way you can, keeping the sim preparation up, trying to get out in whatever car, something like that, just so you don’t lose the feel of the speed,” Bennett said. “Because it is a weird calendar. Like I’ve said, I’ve never had something like this before.”

Bennett stepped up directly to F2 from GB3, the series in which he made his single-seater debut in 2022. He has had a difficult rookie season and is yet to score points, although he narrowly missed them twice, taking 11th in the Monaco feature race and ninth in the Spa sprint. 

Finding momentum in the final rounds could be crucial as he shifts focus to next year. 

“The gap between Baku and Qatar is actually longer than the winter break really, which is weird,” he said. “So [I’m] trying to stay sharp as possible, trying to keep working every day.” 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency