Victor Martins: My Greatest Influences

27 October 2023

Following on from his FIA Formula 3 title success in 2022, Victor Martins has put together an impressive rookie campaign in Formula 2. He is in contention for the Anthoine Hubert award as top rookie in 2023 with one round left of the season.

It’s an honour that would mean a great deal to the ART Grand Prix driver, with his compatriot one of the major influences on his career. Martins details just how Hubert and others have helped him on his journey to Formula 2 and beyond the track.

Brother

“Up to now, I’ve basically spent my whole life with him. Now, to be honest it’s quite difficult to see each other all the time. He has his own life and project, but he still follows me as much as possible.

“I’ve done gymnastics in the past and it was his sport first, I went into that sport because of him I’d say but in a positive way. Not because I was forced to or anything. Gymnastics brought me a lot of good things, physically and mentally operating highly at such a young age, and for me to discover professionalism you need to have in sport.

“He stopped his school for me to follow me as a mechanic in karting. He was like my dad at the track. I won’t say he was hammering me when I did a mistake, he was hard on me to go to bed at the right time, work the maximum for what you want. The professionalism, dedication and work ethic you need to have in the sport, it’s him along with my parents that helped me have that.

“Because he was with me 24/7, he taught me those things. When he started his professional life, I could see how much work and how many hours working for what he wanted. I’ve learned a lot of things from him and still today, sometimes when I go to rest, I see he’s still working and I push to go and do something too, get out of bed or go early to bed to be 100% ready for the day after. All the work ethic came from him and my parents.”

Anthoine Hubert

“I met him when I came into the Renault Sport Academy and before from the FFSA Academy in France. He did all the school classes with the FFSA and he was the example along with Pierre Gasly, he was the once to follow.

“He has been and remains a great influence to this day. He was always the one to beat. The goal was to be like him. He was good at school, the teachers always said he was the example to be like. You ask a question to Anthoine about how to manage school and the races – I remember he was doing reports to send to Renault at the time – all those things I learned from him. If he wasn’t there, maybe I wouldn’t have learned these things from someone else.

“Because he was there, older than me and the one that Alpine and Renault and probably the next F1 driver for Renault at the time, he was the target in everything. That’s why he’s a great influence on myself.

“He was always nice to everyone. Everyone saw him in a good way and his work ethic was incredible. He was doing everything to reach his dream and his goal and I learned a lot of things about motorsport from him.”

Managers

“They came to me when I became World Champion in karting and jumped into single seaters and F4 in 2017. At the time, Anthoine was still here, and I was probably going too far in the preparations, trying to take car of everything from the sporting side, the diet, my everyday – going to sleep at the right time and my health in order to perform at the maximum in every small area and be 100% in the car.

“They were a great influence because they helped me understand that it’s also about instinct. Even if you’re not 100%, you can still be P1 or be the best even if you don’t spend hours and hours eating very well all the time. If you eat McDonalds one time, it’s not the end of the world. They taught me about balance, doing 100% for what you want but also enjoying your life and making time for rest.

“They’ve supported me in tough moments and it’s because of them I’m still doing what I love and trying to achieve my dream which is reaching in F1.”