Laurens van Hoepen heads into his first full Formula 2 campaign with Trident this season. Speaking with Feeder Series ahead of the new season, the Dutchman reflected on lessons learned from a challenging final F3 season, adapting to a new environment in F2, and the mindset he hopes will guide him through motorsport’s most demanding junior category.

By August Bamford

Laurens van Hoepen entered the 2025 F3 season with ambitions of fighting for victories – and potentially the championship – but things did not unfold as expected.

The Dutchman endured a difficult opening phase of the season in which results proved hard to come by, before a breakthrough finally arrived at Imola, where he scored the first point of the campaign in the feature race. Momentum built from there with his first podium of the season in Monaco’s sprint race, yet consistent results remained elusive, and it was not until the final round at Monza that Van Hoepen returned to the podium for a second and final time.

“I think mentally was a big step that I made last year, during the season, because we went into the season expecting to be fighting for wins and even the title, but that was completely not the case,” Van Hoepen told Feeder Series. “So it was quite hard, mentally, to get over that and still keep working as hard and stay motivated, which I think we did really well. I think we never really gave up and we always kept working really hard. I was proud of myself for doing that, and I’ve learned that you have to keep fighting and never give up. That was a good experience, to struggle a bit.”

Rather than defining the season purely as a disappointment, however, Van Hoepen believes the experience fundamentally reshaped how he measures success as a driver by shifting his focus away from outcomes and toward extracting the maximum from every weekend.

“As a driver, you learn quite a lot every time you go out on track to really take the maximum out of the car, especially when the car might not be the best,” he said. “To still go out there and make sure you get that last millisecond out of the car and be happy with the job you’ve done and say, ‘That was the maximum it was today. Today was P8. Next time if it’s P1, I’ll be P1’, I think that’s a really big thing.”

The 2025 F3 season saw the introduction of a new chassis and engine package, which may have contributed to a slow start for many drivers. Yet for Van Hoepen, the experience offered lessons in patience, perspective and the value of having a strong team environment to lean on.

“It’s always difficult because you’re expecting a lot and then if it doesn’t go fully towards your expectations, it’s always difficult to not let your head hang,” he said. “But the knowledge of having the right people around you and knowing that the season is long and that you’re able to work hard I think helps with that.”

This extended focus helped Van Hoepen deliver a notably cleaner season en route to 13th in the drivers’ standings. Across the 2025 campaign, he recorded only a single non-finish, caused by contact with ART Grand Prix teammate James Wharton in the first race of the year in Melbourne, and one technical disqualification in Spielberg. By comparison, in 2024, he had more on-track incidents that stemmed from driver errors, yet he finished only one position lower in the standings thanks to his advantage in pace. Van Hoepen’s approach in 2025 was to minimise mistakes even when the podiums were hard to come by.

“I feel like 2024 was not as clean, because there were more mistakes from my side sometimes,” he explained. “2025 was just being mature. It’s your second season in F3, you know what’s happening, so that’s helped me stay clean. I feel like even though I’ve moved up a category where the most important thing is consistency, because you can see that’s where championships are won on, it helps me that I’ve done those F3 years because it’s still the same format, the same weekend, so that is helpful.”

After four combined seasons in F3 and FRegional Europe with French outfit ART, Van Hoepen faced a pivotal decision. ART have long been a front-running team, taking wins in nearly every F3 campaign, including 2025. Yet despite strong individual performances from Van Hoepen, Wharton and Tuukka Taponen, the team finished only fourth in the teams’ championship. It became clear that both Van Hoepen and ART needed to reflect on whether continuing together would allow them to grow and achieve their full potential.

“I spent […] four years with ART and only experienced ART, and especially last year, the results weren’t what we were expecting, what we we’ve been working for super hard. We experienced that before, that the speed was always there but the results didn’t really come. So we had a talk with ART, but also with my people around me. We decided it would be a good change for me to experience a different environment. We went for that, and I am really happy with the way the people of Trident took me in.”

Van Hoepen will make his full-season F2 debut in 2026 with Trident, but he already has valuable experience with the team after driving the car during the final three rounds of the 2025 season and the post-season test. While the focus of that running was on acclimation rather than results, he steadily improved over the course of the sessions, from qualifying 20th ahead of his first F2 round in Baku to securing a personal-best finish of 14th in the Abu Dhabi sprint race, in which he gained five positions from his starting grid slot. The extra experience helped him build trust, communication and understanding with his new team, a foundation he sees as crucial for success in 2026.

“It was such a good experience to drive the F2 before the season, before my actual rookie season starts,” he said. “We’ve learned so much together – like, I’ve learned how the team works, they welcomed me super well, so I’m thankful for them to give me that opportunity and to welcome me.

“I think it was valuable because you just learn so much. It’s a big category, the car is big, there’s a lot of new things with the pit stops and everything, so it is valuable to get that experience also before the season actually starts. And then you also get to learn how the team works and build some relationships already before the season starts. So that was really nice, and it makes me feel more ready for the beginning of the season.”

Moving from F3 to F2 is a significant jump. The cars are heavier, with increased engine power and greater technical complexity, and there is a demand for faster race-strategy decisions. It’s this combination that makes immediate success for rookie F2 drivers so impressive. For Van Hoepen, the step up to F2 has already been a learning experience, offering new challenges and insights.

“I feel like it didn’t take me very long to get comfortable with the car, but there are some little changes that you don’t have in F3 like the power you definitely feel,” he noted. “Especially when the turbo kicks in, you feel like you have to manage that more than in F3. And also the brakes are a big thing. They only work when they’re warm because they’re from carbon instead of the steel brakes that you’ve got in F3. That was the main points. But apart from that, the handling is actually very similar to F3. It’s still a car, it’s still a racing car, I still know my way around it. So honestly, it went quick with the adaptation, but still there is a lot to learn and a lot to improve on as well.”

Trident will be hoping to bounce back this season after what was their most difficult year in F2 to date, with just two points scored across the campaign. With a refreshed driver line-up featuring Van Hoepen alongside John Bennett, who enters his second full season in Formula 2, the team are entering 2026 aiming to return to greater competitiveness. Van Hoepen’s outlook closely aligns with the team’s rebuilding approach heading into the new season.

“It’s hard to put a number on it, but I would say that the main thing for me is to be happy every time I step out of the car,” he said about his goals. “Always be happy with the job I’ve done. If that’s P8 I’m happy because there wasn’t more in it [the car]. Or if it’s P1, then it’s P1. Of course if you’re P1, then you’re happy with it.”

New teammate Bennett, who arrives from Van Amersfoort Racing, showed clear progression across the year even if the results did not always reflect his potential. With a full season of F2 experience already under his belt, Bennett has knowledge that could prove invaluable for Van Hoepen as he aims to settle quickly and help bring Trident back to the points consistently.

“It’s nice to have a teammate that’s already experienced a full season of F2,” he said. “It’s always valuable to have a teammate like that who can give you some – not let’s say tips, but [who] knows how it’s going to go, and already in meetings you have an idea of what’s happening. That is definitely valuable, and for sure it’s something I’m hopefully going to make use of.”

Although the pair have yet to race together as teammates, their early collaboration has already begun away from the circuit, allowing both drivers to start building a working relationship ahead of the season.

“We’ve done quite a few sim days together, and in that way, you’re learning from each other in a sim,” he added. “It’s also the race experience that’s nice, to learn already from his experience so you don’t make rookie mistakes that are unnecessary.”

Van Hoepen’s promotion to F2 brings him closer than ever to the dream that defines every driver’s journey through the junior categories: a place on the F1 grid. With that step comes greater visibility and expectation but also a clearer understanding of what is required to reach the next level. Supporting him along that path is his manager, Julien Simon-Chautemps, a veteran of the sport who spent 14 years as a race engineer in F1 and several years in junior formulae beyond that. The Frenchman provides both technical insight and strategic guidance to Van Hoepen as the 20-year-old continues to build toward the pinnacle of the sport.

“Now the big dream is getting one step closer again, which is cool to think about,” he said. “But the main thing is to perform this season. That’s where the full focus is – doing my best, making sure I do the job, and then the rest will come. Also, the rest is not for me to worry about; that is more for the people around me. I just make sure I do my job and do the best I can, and then the people around me will do their best as well.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency