Pepe Martí’s Journey in Formula 2: A Season of Growth and Challenges

Pepe Martí’s second season in Formula 2 has proven to be a rollercoaster ride, filled with both triumphs and challenges. The young Spanish driver has secured three sprint race victories, yet he is still in search of that elusive feature race win that could propel him into a serious championship contender. Recently, we had the opportunity to engage with Martí and discuss his season thus far, gaining insight into his experiences and aspirations.

A Strong Start Compared to Last Year

At first glance, Martí’s performance this season appears to be a significant improvement over his rookie year. By this point last year, he had accumulated just 43 points without a single win. Fast forward to 2025, and he has already amassed 112 points along with three victories.

However, this straightforward assessment doesn’t capture the complexities of his journey. Martí had set his sights on competing for the championship title this season, inspired by the success of his former teammate Isack Hadjar, who overcame a challenging debut season to become a title contender in his second year. As things stand, Martí currently occupies the sixth position in the drivers’ standings, trailing championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli by a staggering 76 points. With only 78 points remaining in the season, the road ahead looks challenging.

The Challenge of Inconsistency

Inconsistency has been the primary obstacle hindering Martí’s quest for the championship. His season started brightly, with top-five finishes in four of the first five races. However, this momentum was abruptly interrupted by a five-race streak where he failed to score any points. He managed to break this dry spell with a sixth-place finish in the feature race in Barcelona, followed by a sprint victory at Spielberg in his next outing four weeks later.

From the outside, Martí’s season may appear perplexing, but he believes he has pinpointed the factors that have prevented him from consistently finishing at the front in feature races.

“It’s quite straightforward,” Martí explained. “The main limiting factor is still having a best personal qualifying result of sixth. That’s been holding us up quite a bit. I think we have very good pace and a very good car. There are weekends where we haven’t been the quickest as a team, but there are weekends where we’ve been very competitive, one of those being in Barcelona.”

The Home Race Dilemma

During his home race weekend, Martí witnessed his Campos Racing teammate Arvid Lindblad dominate the proceedings, ultimately securing his first feature race win. While Lindblad achieved pole position by a margin of 0.245 seconds, Martí could only manage to qualify in 11th place, resulting in a disappointing sixth-place finish on race day.

“I still feel I should’ve been the one on the top step of the podium, but unfortunately on Friday I just didn’t feel comfortable enough, and it had repercussions on the weekend,” Martí remarked. “There have been some costly mistakes, and qualifying is the way to improve.”

A repeat of his successful weekend in Barcelona from two years ago, where he won a feature race in F3, would have been the perfect catalyst to reinvigorate his season. Instead, he left the venue feeling frustrated, a sentiment that encapsulated his season’s challenges.

In the opening moments of the race, he impressively gained five positions but failed to maintain that momentum. This performance mirrored his overall form; he often demonstrates speed in sprint races but struggles to convert that into strong finishes in feature races.

The Podium at Monza: A Glimmer of Hope

Martí managed to secure his first feature race podium of the season at Monza, successfully navigating through a race that was marred by incidents affecting several of his competitors. Despite this achievement, he expressed a desire for more consistent Sunday performances to enhance his chances of securing a Formula 1 seat for the 2026 season.

“Obviously [it’s] not what I wanted,” he admitted. “We’ve had a lot of really good races, we’ve won three races, so in that sense, I’m quite happy. But from an honest point of view, we’re sixth in the championship, which is not what we wanted at the beginning of the season. It’s obviously a massive step forward from 2024, but 2024 was very underwhelming, so it’s not a great comparison.”

Reflecting on His Rookie Season

In his rookie season of 2024, Martí achieved podium finishes four times and secured his first win during a sprint race at Yas Marina. However, most of his season was spent battling for positions outside the top ten, culminating in a 14th-place finish in the drivers’ standings, while his teammate Isack Hadjar contended for the title. Hadjar’s successes demonstrated the capabilities of the Campos car in competing for both drivers’ and teams’ championships.

Historically, Campos Racing had never finished in the top three of the teams’ standings in F2 until they achieved a commendable second place last season. They also celebrated a similar success in modern F3 by clinching the teams’ title in 2025. Currently, they remain competitive in F2, trailing leaders Invicta Racing by 48 points after 12 rounds.

The Evolution of Campos Racing

Martí has been with Campos Racing since his debut in Spanish F4 in 2021, witnessing the team’s evolution firsthand. His decision to remain with them for his second F3 season in 2023, despite a challenging rookie year, played a crucial role in providing the team with the continuity and experience necessary for success. This collaboration resulted in Campos’s most successful F3 season to date, where Martí finished fifth overall with three victories.

“They had a repeat driver in the car, which is something that they very often didn’t have,” Martí elaborated. “That has a big effect because you know the tracks, you know the car, you know how the car feels, and you know how you want the car to feel. In that sense, my staying for a second year in F3 really helped the team. We were able to perform really well, win races, and be ultra-competitive. To me, that was something that for sure helped the team.”

From an organizational standpoint, Martí praised Campos Racing’s structure, noting their historical excellence. He acknowledged that his performance in F3 contributed to the team attracting talented drivers in subsequent years, although he emphasized that it wasn’t solely his influence. “Adri [Campos Jr.] has done an amazing job since his father’s passing, and I think the whole structure is really doing well at this point.”

Navigating the Red Bull Connection

Adri Campos Jr. took over the team following the passing of his father, Adrián Campos Sr., in January 2021. In recent years, Campos Racing has forged a close relationship with the Red Bull Junior Team. Out of their five drivers in both F2 and F3 for the 2025 season, three—including Martí and Lindblad—are associated with the Red Bull Junior Team.

“We can travel to the Red Bull simulator, do some work there and prepare for the weekends, test out setups, and brainstorm ideas,” Martí explained. “Nonetheless, both teams are still separate organizations. One thrives off the other, and it’s still a really good help for Campos. They’ve done a really good job and adapted well to the situation.”

Competing with Teammates and Future Aspirations

While Martí currently holds a slight edge over his British teammate Lindblad in the drivers’ standings—sitting one place higher with just three points separating them—Lindblad has garnered significant attention regarding a potential F1 seat with Racing Bulls in his debut season in F2. Despite the spotlight on Lindblad, Martí feels it doesn’t impact his own performance.

“At the end of the day, I’m competing for my own future as well,” he stated. “We’re fighting for the same car, and I obviously want to have the upper hand and be the quicker driver of the two. Each driver often says they could be the best, and I believe I can do a very good job no matter where I go. It’s not something that depends on other drivers.”

Martí is not without his own connections to Formula 1. Although he joined the Red Bull Junior Team in the summer of 2023, he had previously aligned with Fernando Alonso’s A14 Management company a year earlier. His management group also represents other promising talents, including 2024 F2 champion Bortoleto and fellow Red Bull junior driver Nikola Tsolov, who is set to join Campos next season.

While Martí maintains his aspirations for a future in F1, he acknowledges that achieving such a goal requires a stronger championship position in his second year.

“At the beginning of the season and now, the hope is for an F1 seat, but being sixth in the championship is not what you want. In motorsport, what matters is results,” he expressed.

“Qualifying and feature race wins are at the forefront of my mind all the time, and it’s something I want to achieve before the end of this season. I’m focused on the present and the current day, and we’ll see what the future holds.”

The Road Ahead

As the season progresses, Pepe Martí’s journey in Formula 2 is one of resilience and determination. With a notable improvement from his rookie season, he continues to strive for excellence on the track, seeking to convert his potential into tangible results. His experiences thus far have shaped not only his racing career but also his outlook on the competitive nature of motorsport.

As he races forward, the challenges he faces will undoubtedly serve as stepping stones toward his ultimate goal: securing a coveted position in Formula 1. With the right focus