American / Spanish
Brad Benavides (full name Brad Domenico Benavides Agredo, born 20 July 2001 in Fort Lauderdale to a Guatemalan father and Colombian mother) is a dual American-Spanish racer whose career has swung between hard graft at the back and a championship-winning high.
The climb
Born in Florida to a Guatemalan father and Colombian mother, Benavides took up karting relatively late but made it count, claiming the 2019 IAME Winter Cup shifter title. He debuted in Euroformula Open back in 2018 and passed through Formula Renault Eurocup and Formula Regional — a Formula Regional European season with DR Formula that he abandoned mid-year without scoring — before reaching FIA Formula 3 in 2022 with Carlin, the team that later rebranded as Rodin Motorsport. It was a tough rookie season: just three points and 23rd, his standout result an eighth in the sprint at a mixed-conditions Spa.
Formula 2
Despite the modest F3 year, Benavides was promoted to FIA Formula 2 in 2023 with PHM Racing by Charouz alongside Roy Nissany. The campaign was a grind, he scored no points, and he was replaced ahead of the Spa round.
The comeback
Rather than disappear, Benavides rebuilt emphatically in Euroformula Open, dominating the 2024 season with Team Motopark on the back of nine victories and 431 points to win the title — proof that, given the right machinery, he could win at the front. That earned a return to FIA Formula 3 in 2025 with AIX Racing, joining from the Imola round; he showed flashes of that pace by grabbing pole positions at both Spa and Monza, and finished 20th with 18 points.
2026 / current season
Benavides stayed with AIX Racing for 2026 — a team he openly describes as 'family' — lining up with Fernando Barrichello, son of the F1 veteran Rubens, and Yevan David, and talking up his ambition to fight nearer the front after two seasons of learning the F3 car. That campaign was brutally derailed at Monaco. On the opening lap of the sprint race he was involved in a heavy crash that left him with three fractured vertebrae, forcing him to step away from racing to recover. He had been 14th in the standings on six points at the time of the accident, and the focus shifted from results to rehabilitation — a cruel setback for a driver who had finally found front-running form in 2024.