A brilliant weekend for Victor Martins was completed in style, as he converted pole to score his first victory in the FIA Formula 2 Silverstone feature race. Having received an early five-second time penalty, the polesitter had to push without making a mistake in order to secure victory. Speaking after the race, the Frenchman told Feeder Series and selected media all about the journey it took to achieve this moment.

By Tyler Foster

As a rookie, Victor Martins has been the strongest driver on the Formula 2 grid in qualifying this season, averaging an incredible starting grid spot of 3.125 in the feature races from the eight rounds so far. With a total of three pole positions – Jeddah, Spielberg and Silverstone – it is clear both he and ART have found the formula for one-lap pace. Interestingly, Martins failed to take a single pole en route to his FIA Formula 3 title with ART last season. However, this year the Frenchman has not yet failed to qualify outside of the top seven.

The issue for him has clearly been his racecraft and decision-making, both costing him big points throughout the first half of the season. He has admitted to this on multiple occasions, having previously told Feeder Series, “I just wanted too much from the start of the season.” Given his qualifying record and the fact he had scored five podiums prior to this weekend, it is perhaps a surprise that his first win in the series has taken until the second half of the campaign. 

At Silverstone, Martins was finally able to find the perfect balance when reaching the limit. In doing so, it finally became his turn to reach the top-step of the podium, taking a much-deserved victory in front of an appreciative British crowd, with his ART teammate Théo Pourchaire joining him on the rostrum.

“[It means] a lot. Extremely a lot. We have worked really hard on the races to understand what kind of approach [to have], how to manage the tyres and the mindset I need to have for the races compared to the quali. Honestly, I think I’ve found it. It was all about time, just to wait [for] this one. We have almost everything right because that was a tough race still today, but I had a great car. ART are doing a super job also with Théo [Pourchaire]. It’s amazing to [have] the two of us sharing the podium.”

It wasn’t a simple drive for Martins, who had to overcome a five-second time penalty for gaining an off-track advantage following a lap one battle with DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa.

“I had a good temperature in the tyres,” Martins explained. “I think more than Ayumu [Iwasa], and I did a bad start. He was ahead into turn one and, coming into turn three, [he] braked really early. I knew if I was going around the outside I would just get the position. I think anyone was not deserving a penalty – [Iwasa] or me. It was just a racing incident on the first lap. I didn’t have the space to stay on the track so I went off, but by just a bit.

“That’s how it happened, but honestly, I wasn’t actually thinking about getting a penalty. It’s just at some point that my engineer told me, ‘Let’s say we have mega pace, so let’s try to take a big gap around five seconds,’ and I was like, ‘What do you mean five seconds? I have a penalty?’ And he went, ‘Yeah, you have a penalty, but you are super quick, you will get the gap until the end.’”

Following that early incident, Martins’ only worry came during the final of three safety car restarts. He gave insight into how he dealt with the situation from the lead towards the end. 

“With the cool temperature today, it was all about getting the tyres ready after every safety car. I was just working at my best to keep them warm and then to push, but not at the limit where you can do small mistakes. I know I had great pace and to just keep the consistency throughout ten laps, I will get the five seconds [gap]. I was pushing super hard but I made no mistake.”

This maiden victory caps off a brilliant run of form, with Martins now scoring four podiums from his previous six races. It helps see him rise to fifth in the championship standings, which subsequently helps ART in their battle with Prema for the teams’ title. For Martins, breaching this difficult barrier of winning in F2 may give him the extra confidence to propel himself onward in the remaining five rounds.

“When you get your first win, it’s always like opening the box. I feel it. It’s giving you confidence, but honestly, I will not change anything – my approach to free practice, then the preparation for qualifying. I always had the pace, I did already three poles, two in a row. So, I feel I have the confidence, I have the car, I have the team, I have the people around me to do it.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency