In an exclusive interview with Feeder Series ahead of this week’s title showdown at the Circuit of the Americas, Martí shared her journey from karting to single-seaters, her experiences in W Series and F1 Academy, and her goals for the future.

By Nida Anis

From karting to single-seaters

Martí’s racing career began at an early age. “I started when I was nine years old because my dad and uncle operated a rental karting in Valencia,” she said, referring to Karting Horta Nord, a go-karting track in Alabat Dels Sorells in Spain. “Then, I did some years of karting.” When Martí was 13, she began representing her local track’s team in competitive racing.

In 2017, Martí became the first woman to win the Campeonato de Karting de la Comunidad Valencia regional karting championship with the Circuit Ricardo Tormo Fórmula de Campeones team. She would go on to repeat this achievement the following year, which saw her become the national runner-up in the Rotax series with Praga España Motorsport.

Martí progressed to the Spanish F4 Championship in 2019 with the Fórmula de Campeones – Praga team. “I felt really, really excited because my dream was to jump into a formula, and when I heard about the opportunity in 2019, it was really exciting,” she said. “I decided to race in F4 two weeks before starting the championship, so I didn’t have any experience in formula.”

She ended the season sixteenth in the standings and finished second in the Female Driver Trophy behind fellow Spanish driver Bélen García.

W Series a “really, really, really good opportunity”

In 2020, Martí was selected to participate in W Series. After that season’s racing was cancelled due COVID-19, the Spanish driver made her debut in the all-female series in 2021. “To be in W Series was a really, really, really good opportunity,” she said. “After Spanish F4, I didn’t have any plans, so it was really nice to jump into a formula car.”

Martí achieved a fourth place finish in her rookie W Series season, before finishing 7th in 2022. “It was really, really nice to be with them, and W Series was really, really big. I had really good memories, and it’s sad that the championship was finished,” she added.

“But now that’s F1 Academy that is different but with the same goal – that is, to put a girl on the top.”

Racing in F1 Academy with Campos

After competing with Campos Racing in the 2023 Formula Winter Series, Martí began an F1 Academy campaign with the Spanish team. “For me, it’s really nice to be in a Valencian team because I’m from Valencia, as well. I know Campos is in other categories, in F3 and F2, so it’s really nice to learn from them, to do this sim, training mentally and physically.

“Adrian [Campos] is a really good guy, he has the confidence, and it’s really nice to work with him.”

Martí has achieved five podiums in her F1 Academy season so far, with her best result being a race win at Circuit Paul Ricard. She is currently in fourth place in the standings, ahead of Rodin Carlin’s Abbi Pulling and behind MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi.

However, the Spanish driver is mindful of the importance of strong results. “This year is not too bad because we came to the top three, but we need to win if we want to be in F3 and another category,” she said.

Plans for the future

With only one round of the inaugural F1 Academy championship remaining, Martí outlined her ambitions for the future. “To be honest, I would like to be a professional driver,” she said. “Obviously, I would like to be in a formula. It is difficult to achieve it, it’s a difficult world, in terms of budget, it’s crazy, but we’re trying to hire the sponsors and everything to be at the top.”

Earlier this year, Martí launched her own karting team, NM Motorsport by Nerea Marti. “We have a karting team so I can teach all the girls and boys, and I can tell to them my experience and try to import everything that I know to them,” she continued. “I can teach them also with my family – I love to share time with them to help everyone, because when I started it was very helpful.”

Martí has a clear vision for what her 2024 will look like. “My plans for next year, I know. I will try and do another year of F1 Academy with Adrian Campos. I will try it, we don’t know yet, but I will try it. And it’s really important to be on the top.”

F1 Academy will join the F1 paddock this weekend for its season finale at the Circuit of the Americas, where the series’ races will be broadcast live for the first time.

Header photo credit: Quantfury