Martins: ‘Only fine-tuning’ ahead of Qualifying for ART Grand Prix after rapid start in Monte Carlo

Victor Martins and ART Grand Prix could hardly have started the Monte Carlo weekend any better, as they finished 0.6s quicker than the chasing pack in Free Practice.

The Frenchman was immediately pushing and with every lap, was able to find a rhythm that nobody else could keep up with as he found improvements from start to finish.

Setting a 1:21.715 on his final flying lap, Martins was comfortably quickest and after returning to the paddock, said he was already feeling very optimistic ahead of Qualifying on Friday.

“Just like the first two years in in Monaco, I know it’s key to be up there straight away and to get that confidence and good feeling within the car to take it close to the walls,” he explained.

“I think we did a good session, just one mistake in the end that meant I couldn’t do one more lap, but anyway, the pace is there. It’s only FP, we need to improve some things in small areas, but I’m really happy with where we are at the moment, so it’s just about fine-tuning things for Qualifying.”

Martins was well clear by the chequered flag, but it was his ability to take the car to the edge of the barriers that he believes made the difference.

Feeling comfortable at this early stage is a huge factor in his confidence, and he says that it is more important than having an outright pace advantage at this point of the weekend.

“I think it’s about that, yes. I’m not looking at the margin we have because, in the end, it doesn’t matter. In Qualifying, even if you’re one one-thousandth of a second in front, that’s all it takes.

“We’ll look at the data and analyse tonight to see what we can do for tomorrow in terms of setup and the strategy in terms of warm-up and getting the tyres in the right window.

“After that, it’s down to myself and I feel good, so I just have to keep this wave of momentum going. While we ended up six-tenths ahead, I don’t know what the others were doing in terms of run plan, so let’s see.

READ MORE: PRACTICE: Martins dominant in opening Monte Carlo session

“In the end I’m happy with the car, we need to improve in some areas, but I’m confident we will for tomorrow.”

Free Practice included all 22 cars on track at the same time and plenty of traffic-induced headaches as a result, but Friday’s Qualifying session will be split into two segments.

Even-numbered cars will feature in Group A, going out onto the track first before Group B and the odd-numbered cars follow afterwards.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s all-important grid-setting session, the Williams Racing Development Driver says he is expecting more of the same, even with half the number of cars on track at the same time.

“We could be split into three groups, and we’d still always end up on track together. I think traffic is going to be difficult tomorrow anyway, we just need to look back at what we could have done better today, what went wrong and how we can manage it for tomorrow.

“In the end, when you have the pace, you manage to put in a good lap at some point in the session, or you’re in front anyway. So, we won’t need to spend much time on it because it’ll be the same situation for everyone.”

The ART driver has form around the Monte Carlo circuit, finishing second in Qualifying overall but topping his respective group in both 2023 and 2024 during his previous visits in Formula 2.

Whether 2025 will be his year or not, Martins says he is focused on delivering the lap every time he crosses the line, with the unknowns like Red Flag stoppages or traffic out of his control.

“I’ve been P2 twice so now it’s time to go and do P1. I’m in Group A this weekend, but I’m not looking too much into it. I think Paul Aron was Group A last year – sometimes you can have a Red Flag that affects your session, and you have one lap less than the others in the opposite group.

“I’m not in control of this, so I’ll stay focused on what I have in my hands and just focus on delivering every single lap and not doing a mistake.”

Asked what it will take to deliver a pole lap around Monaco, Martins joked that with the barriers so close, it’s about pushing right to the very limit and being just careful enough not to step over them.

“In Monaco, it’s about pushing 100% No, maybe 99.999!”