Victor Martins continued on his consistent qualifying form following a P2 for the Bahrain GP. In his first weekend as a Williams Academy driver, the Frenchman is hungry for a large point haul in Bahrain following a disappointing weekend in Melbourne.
Friday could not have gone any better for the 23 year-old. At the post-qualifying press conference attended by Pit Debrief, the Frenchman appeared in great spirits as he reflected on his successful day.
“I think it was a great day overall, fighting for pole today, also in Melbourne, I got promoted to pole on Sunday. I think it’s been a good start to the season.”
“We are back, definitely, since the end of last year, we definitely have the car to always fight for pole, which I’m super happy and confident with.”
Martins looked to be on pace since the get-go having finished P4 in FP. The Frenchman fell short of reigning F3 champion, Leonardo Fornaroli, after his impressive final lap crushed Martins’ hopes of a first pole position of the season. However, with a reverse grid tomorrow, Martins plans to put up a fight to fully maximise his results this weekend.
“I think it’s a good spot for good opportunities tomorrow, going ahead with confidence, no pressure, just if you go in front, it’s only positive and you have this mindset of you have nothing to lose, let’s say, tomorrow and everything to play and to go for it for Sunday. So starting P2 is a good spot.”
Track conditions have changed since testing
During the F2 in-season test, where Martins topped the timings of the first day of testing, conditions were not severely as harsh as they were today. But since then, track conditions have warmed up considerably, making tyre degradation a big unknown for many teams heading into tomorrow. Martins claimed the sprint will be a good opportunity to understand the performance of the tyre compounds heading into Sunday.
“Yeah, definitely, the weather conditions are not the same as the testing we had two weeks ago, so for sure, we need to analyse well what we did when we were here and make this compromise with the setup of the car, the driving also on my side to be there and fight for the victory in the end.”
“We will have some good data tomorrow, let’s see who is going with which tyre compound for the sprint race and see how is the deg, but for sure it’s warmer now during this weekend, so for sure it will be quite interesting and yeah, it will be a good race to watch, I think.”
Martins knows his vast experience in F2 will come handy on Sunday, however he acknowledged winning will not come easily. With Fornaroli starting beside him on the front row, the Frenchman will keep an eye on fellow Williams Academy driver, Luke Browning, who starts in P3.
“In the end, we had three days of testing, for sure, as I said, the conditions are not the same, so for sure I will try to make the most out of it, use my experience emotionally, technically in the car and let’s see what is happening, but he’s an F3 champion, I know Luke also from last year, they are all very good and for sure they will be quick.”
Effect of tyre wear on drivers
Despite days of testing, the coarse nature of the Bahrain circuit brings another crucial factor drivers will need to understand as the weekend unfolds. Kerb-riding, car set-up and driving styles have proven to be essential in preserving tyre life as drivers push the cars to their limits. When asked about tyre wear, Martins explained how run plans and experimenting with setups can help with that.
“We do, we use kerbs, for sure in Quali we just go flat out, hoping to not have that much deg [degradation], for sure in Quali you can also make the choice of not actually on run two but do one lap or two, which can be a bad consequence for the race. But after the setup of the car for sure you can go, you know, you can go more, less oversteer, more understeer, you know like you can play with the car from what you saw in testing.”
Martins emphasised that insights learnt from testing will be crucial, as the intense heat could punish any major mistakes.
“But definitely the conditions are not the same, so for sure how I drove in testing I think it will be even more important now during this weekend because the conditions are even warmer, so there will be more consequences if I do mistakes, if I slide with the rear tyres, if I go into understeer or front locking, but definitely one mistake will be big I think, so let’s see how it is tomorrow, as I said I think it will be a good show and a good race to watch tomorrow and on Sunday.”
New beginnings with Williams Driver Academy
Before becoming a Williams junior, Martins was a member of the Alpine Academy for four years. The Bahrain GP marked the first weekend for the Frenchman in new colours. Starting his 2025 season without the backing of an F1 team, Martins described it as an extra source of motivation to prove his worth. With the backing of Williams, Martins is confident his time will come once he delivers the results needed.
“Great, I have been super happy to join the Williams Racing Drivers Academy, I have been waiting for that, being alone I would say was also an extra motivation to keep going, keep fighting, going for it and showing your full potential every time, every time going on track and also off track.
“But definitely being part of an F1 team is really good, you have this motivation to go further, you know you will have opportunity if you earn them and definitely I still think I need to just focus on my F2 season, just delivering, doing what I know how to do, how to drive an F2 car, how to be in front and show them that I hope I will get opportunities in F1.”
During his time at Alpine, Martins was given several chances to clock mileage in an F1 car during testing sessions. Even as a new member of the Williams family, the Frenchman was thankful for Williams’ support.
“I had the opportunity already in Monza, driving the TPC [Testing of Previous Car] car was a great moment, definitely being back in an F1 car was great, it has been almost like a year, so yeah definitely they are there to support me, support me in F2 and maybe give some laps in an F1 car to learn as much as possible.”
Lessons learnt at ART
When asked by Pit Debrief about starting his season off on the right foot, Martins was pleased with his consistent qualifying form so far.
“Starting the season like this is great. That was what I was targeting last year to start as strong as now. Being always up there, two times P2 on the track, I think is good. Now it’s time to do a pole position. We head to Jeddah, my favourite track, where I got to do a nice pole position in 2023, so I would be really confident and really looking forward to go there.”
After a disappointing 2024 season where he finished seventh in the championship, Martins expressed his gratitude to the team at ART for the progress they made over the winter in understanding the package needed to maximise results.
“But definitely the weekend is not over yet. I’m so proud of honestly what ART is doing right now. We have worked so hard and productively over the winter to understand where we were last year, why we improved so well at the end of the season and definitely having a good communication with myself also and Ritomo, my teammate, to give us the best package in qualifying and also in the races.”
“I don’t know, I’m so happy to be back always on track knowing that the car is quick and having everything in my hands to deliver. For sure, that’s the main difference with last year.”
2025 Victor is a new Victor
Despite a strong start, the 23-year-old understands the challenging nature of the series and explained that oftentimes teams and drivers do not have answers to their own questions.
“We understand not everything, because I think F2 is really difficult and tough for the engineers to understand every time what’s going on in the car. Also, ourselves as drivers, we sometimes we do a mistake, we don’t understand where it’s coming from.”
Martins saw a noticeable trajectory in results during the second half of last season, crediting the improvement of a collective effort within the team to understand where gains could be made.
“So definitely a good communication, a good confidence between the two parts, myself and the team. I think we started to really be good last year from Barcelona, where we knew what was wrong and also on myself, on the driving style, what was suiting the car or not.”
“Definitely, as I said, walking out in the you know, like definitely those days in the simulator helped a lot and also is the confidence.”
Martins believes he would be much quicker in last year’s car now, thanks to momentum and growth. The Frenchman added that both he and the car have evolved since then.
“I’m sure right now, if I have the car of last year, I will be much quicker than what I was doing last year with the same car because when it’s going well, you just live on the momentum and that’s so so much, there is so much differences in that also.”
“So I think it’s a combination about everything. I’m not going to go into details, but for sure the Victor is not the same and the car is not the same than last year.”, he added.
Last chance in single-seaters
The 23-year-old headed into this year accepting this was his last chance to prove his worth. With the uncertainty of his future left in his hands, Martins knows a F2 campaign filled with success is what he needs to secure one of twenty coveted spots on the F1 grid.
“Actually thinking about the future, for sure, also being alone at the start of the season helped me to kind of put this pressure away and say to myself there is no more, let’s say, I have no more career in single-seater after this.”
“I just enjoy as much as possible F2, and I think that’s the right way to go. To only be in the moment, think about how to warm up your tyres, how to drive in Turn 1, in Turn 2, Turn 3 and not further. And I think now I will just try to keep going like this.”
Backed by his experience in the series and support from Williams, Martins remains focused on the F2 title, with his lifelong F1 dream now within reach.
“Having William’s support also is great, for sure it’s really good for my future, and I thank them for that. But for sure I will try to keep going with the same mindset, which is enjoying as much as I do right now.”
“Like my first F2 season, I was just going on the track and pushing 100%, sometimes a bit too much. But let’s say I will do the same with the experience, and I will use it emotionally and all the things I know technically in the car to help me achieve the goa,l which is to win the title this year and get into Formula 1.”
