Martí aiming for title bid with Campos Racing after impressive double-header

Josep María Martí says he and Campos Racing are contenders in 2025 after the team enjoyed a very positive round in Jeddah this past weekend.

The Spaniard continued from where he left off in Sakhir, earning another Sprint Race podium in what was a 1-2 for the Spanish outfit, teammate Arvid Lindblad winning on Saturday.

He achieved another top five result in the Feature Race and says his and the team’s recent form is forming the basis of a title bid this year.

“I knew that I was a Championship contender from the start,” the Red Bull Junior Team driver reflected on Sunday night. “I knew that we should be fighting for the Championship and to be honest, it's good to see us up there. I think we deserve to be up there.

“Richard did a fantastic job, I think he was just the fastest this weekend, and he deserves to win. With that, he takes the Championship lead, but I think we'll be fighting him quite soon for that lead.”

Campos scored 64 points in Rounds 2 and 3, the most of any team across the double header. It leaves Martí second in the Drivers’ Championship to Richard Verschoor, 12 points behind the MP Motorsport driver on 41 points.

Martí paid tribute to the team after they left the season-opening race with just a solitary point courtesy of his P8 finish in the Melbourne Sprint, adding that the team had worked hard to maximise their results even when the win was out of reach.

“Coming back from Australia, where we just didn't really get things right, didn't really score enough points, this double-header has been amazing.

“We've done a great job. I think in Bahrain, we didn't really maximise what we had. We could have been fighting for a Sunday win or further up than we ended up finishing, but we still managed to get a win on Saturday and come forward on Sunday.

“This weekend we put both cars in the top 10 in qualifying, and then managed to get P2 yesterday, even after a big mistake of mine. Then Sunday, a very solid fifth place, which, considering we had a big fight with Luke, is obviously very, very good. I’m very thankful to the team and to the mechanics.”

READ MORE: FEATURE RACE: Verschoor secures redemption victory in Jeddah

Asked about what the catalyst to their charge across the two most recent rounds had been, the Spanish driver explained that the team was executing weekends well, and that it was his Qualifying that was the focus of improvement going forward.

“I think we're getting stuff more and more right. I don't think that it's been night and day. I think we had a pretty good idea of what we needed and what we were doing right, what we were doing wrong, and now we're taking step forwards.

“We did a step forward here in Jeddah with qualifying. I think I need to just do my job a bit better, and I think I did. Even if it wasn't perfect, we were in the top 10, which is a good setup. If we keep on pushing these things, we'll definitely be fighting on Sundays.

“Honestly, I don't think I can ask for a lot more of the team. I think that they're doing their job very well. We have a pretty strong car, both for Qualifying and in the races.

“We may not be the quickest at times, but we're definitely competitive enough to be contesting for the race wins, as we saw on Saturday.

“To be honest, I'm quite confident at the moment with the team. I think it's more of me doing stuff right in Qualifying and doing that last lap a bit better. I think in Imola we have a good shot and then Monaco, Barcelona as well, with a triple-header, we have a pretty good shot at doing a good job. Hopefully we can polish those things up.”

While the paddock goes their separate ways between Rounds 3 and 4 and the return to racing at Imola next month, Martí says that it has been a positive campaign so far.

He now shares the longest active scoring streak in Formula 2 along with early title rival Verschoor, both scoring in the most recent seven races dating back to the 2024 finale at Yas Marina.

He believes that Campos just needs to carry their momentum on when the action resumes, adding that the season is already going by quickly, and the team was proving to be in the right place for a title bid.

“It's basically a quarter of the season down already, it flies by very quick, for sure. We’re three rounds in, and we're fighting for the Championship, so we're definitely doing our job well.

“Like I said before, we still have things to improve, but obviously the seven race points-scoring streak is definitely a good indication that we're in the right position, and if you count Abu Dhabi, the last few results have been, I think, first, sixth, eighth, first, fourth, second and fifth.

“So we're definitely on the right track, we're doing a good job and just have to do a little bit more of what we're doing. Then we'll get there.”