Martins ‘honoured’ to continue with ART Grand Prix for the 2025 season

Victor Martins considers it an honour to continue racing with ART Grand Prix for a fifth season of his career, but says his return for the 2025 Formula 2 campaign is about bringing the title home.

The 23-year-old won the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup with ART and once again achieved title success with them in 2022, this time in FIA Formula 3.

Martins and ART then had a memorable 2023 Formula 2 season, the Frenchman ending up fifth in the Standings and as the lead rookie, helping the team win the Championship.

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However, the introduction of a new F2 car at the start of 2024 brought about a slow start, with Martins achieving just four points finishes in the opening five rounds.

But from Round 6 in Barcelona, Martins achieved six podiums, including a Sprint Race victory on Spanish soil, helping him finish seventh in the Standings.

He now returns for a third campaign in the Championship, and speaking ahead of last month’s pre-season test, he expressed his delight at continuing with ART.

“I'm so happy and still honoured to be part of this team,” said Martins. “I have been working with them for two years in F2, and one year in F3 and back in Formula Renault, so I know everybody up the ladder.

“I know all the engineers, all the mechanics and the boss of the team. So, the relationship is there, it's healthy, and we are back for more, back to get the title, that's it. It's the only thing we are here for.

“We have put all the work and effort, especially with the engineers to feel confident, but not too much, like we were back in January in 2024. But I think we are confident because we know what we did last year, and we know where we will be this year.”

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It was a busy winter for Martins and ART, as he explained how much work they did over the winter to prepare themselves for the season.

He also believes that if 2025 turns out to be successful it will be down to how much they learned last year, despite how keen he is to forget about it.

“It is an important year. If we perform this year, it will be thanks to 2024,” he said. “I kind of forget about 2024 a bit, I just take everything I need, everything I learned from last year with the engineers, but we forget about the rest of the season.

“When we were not there and not performing, we forget about it. We know what we did at the end of the year, where we were in the fight, from midseason to the end, around P2, and that's what we need to start with in 2025.

“I don't believe in my mind I have to dominate, but I know I will have the package to do it. I am just releasing the pressure, just trying to enjoy it, but as I said it's my last chance.

“That’s just how it is, you need to accept it, it's my last chance. I cannot say it's not because it is, it's the reality. We need to accept this, put it in a box and then focus on how to bring the title home.”

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Speaking after the test, Martins, whose 224 laps completed was the fourth-highest amount of pre-season testing, said everything he and the team had worked on over the winter had been confirmed across the three days in Barcelona.

This means he and his teammate Ritomo Miyata head to Round 1 in Melbourne very confident but prior to the test, he explained just how much he and ART had developed over the winter to be better in 2025.

“I think the gap between the last race and the first test, it's quite small, so in the end it feels like I didn't switch off,” he said. “In my mind it's like a continuous year, 24', 25' together, from what we have learned, from the season, the Abu Dhabi test and then going into this Barcelona test.

“So, for sure we just continue to work on the car. I think the engineers just kept doing what they were doing from last year but being even more precise. We have done a lot of simulator work to try and be more prepared for this year, and a lot of meetings.

“We used that to just point out where we were not going right, regarding myself and the team, whether it's in Qualifying or Practice, or in Saturday's race or the Feature Race.

“On the strategy side, we looked at what we can improve, and what we can develop. When everything is going right, you have the tendency to not push the boundaries, and when you are not there you need to.

“When you don't achieve your goal, you need to react. So, we have started to do things that we didn't do before.”

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That also applied to Martins, who also talked about his physical preparation, which included more time spent running, with the French driver now even thinking of incorporating Thursday track runs into his 2025 schedule.

“I prepared well,” he said. “Physically, also on the strength side to be where I need to be, and then mentally and technically with the team, in the sim and at the workshop.”

He added: “It will be a long season, but I am looking forward to it. We have worked too much to not go into Round 1 and not be happy with what we have done over the winter.”