Written by Jann Erin Castro, Edited by Tarun Suresh
Campos driver Pepe Martí had a notable Formula Two rookie campaign in 2024, in a series of misfortunes sandwiched by a victorious start and end to his season for the Spanish team.
The protege from Alonso’s A14 management team entered the 2024 season with a hunger to discover how far his talent could take him, especially with the fresh announcement of him joining the Red Bull Junior Team.
Martí’s season started strong in Bahrain with back-to-back podium finishes, a dream start for any rookie. His sensational debut left a positive impression and made him one to look out for this season.
The Spaniard showed an excellent display of tyre management and impressive overtakes, allowing him to finish third and second in the Sprint and Feature races, respectively.
But that’s just about where his luck ended, as his season started to take a turn in Jeddah. Despite finishing in the points in the Sprint, he incurred his first F2 DNF after spinning out at the first chicane and then getting hit by the mid-field pack as a result.
Things continued to get more difficult for Martí as the following races ended with him either finishing at the back or not walking away with yet another DNF in his pockets.
For the most part, Martí’s DNFs were caused by his rivals crashing into him or car issues that couldn’t be fixed in the nick of time.
In Melbourne, he was hit by teammate Isack Hadjar, who had just merely avoided Roman Staněk, causing Martí to hit Gabriel Bortoleto and lead them both straight into the wall.
Imola was a short series of unfortunate events, when Amaury Cordeel’s loose right rear wheel fell off in the pitlane and made contact with one of the Campos mechanics who was positioned to change Martí’s tyre.
This led to a bad pitstop for the driver due to his left rear wheel not being secured in place before he was cleared to resume the race, leaving Martí limping to a DNF.
Monaco too proved to be difficult, with another DNF for Martí after a big shunt into the wall at the Swimming Pool Chicane. The following round in Silverstone was no easier, as the rain poured over during the Sprint Race.
The blurred visibility of the track caused Martí to hit the then-championship-leader Paul Aron, who was experiencing engine problems following contact with Zak O’Sullivan on the corner leading into the Wellington Straight.
After a below par showing at Hungary, Spa was a weekend to forget for Martí who experienced a double DNF for alternator problems on Saturday.
Despite a great launch at the start of the Sunday feature race, a bad hit from Oliver Bearman that sent him right into the wall on Sunday.
Baku was another weekend to forget for both Campos drivers, with their qualifying session ending prematurely due to overheating rear brakes that caused tyre lockups, leading both drivers to head straight for the barriers on turn one.
Following a difficult Sprint on Saturday, Martí’s Sunday Feature ended as soon as it began.
On the opening lap, many drivers starting from the back had to avoid the stalled Invicta of Kush Maini, except for fellow Red Bull Junior Ollie Goethe who was unable to avoid Maini in time.
Goethe hit Maini who eventually made contact with Martí and sent his car flipping over across the straight and into the barrier. Luckily enough, the Spaniard came out unscathed.
Martí’s other races, despite being able to cross the chequered flag, saw him scrapping for points and falling to the back of the grid due to car problems.
These led to penalties, getting caught in traffic, not being able to set better laps due to a yellow or red flag, difficulty overtaking in certain tracks, and unscheduled pit stops.
After a long and restful time off from F2, Martí eagerly returned in Qatar with high hopes for redemption.
However, he was quickly proven wrong when he could not even start the Sprint race due to a technical issue before they could get his car to the pitlane.
Despite many woes being beyond his control, the Spanish driver continued to hold onto hope week in and week out for a good race and, hopefully, a shot at the podium just one more time.
At the last round of the season, the Sprint race bore the surprise redemption Martí had long awaited.
Starting fourth on the grid, the Spanish driver made a dream getaway that allowed him to pass Joshua Dürksen for the lead. While a tussle in the mid-field took some drivers out, Martí took it as an opportunity to pull away and make a gap.
Although title contender Gabriel Bortoleto — determined to score maximum points to secure the title lead against Martí’s teammate Hadjar — had caught up to second and tried to take the lead.
Yet, Martí played the game right, and managed his tyres well enough to lead him to the end where he saw the chequered flag first.
As the sun set in the Yas Marina Circuit on December 7th, Martí rose from his Red Bull-liveried car filled with joy as he finally secured his first win in F2.
In an interview, Martí shared that his season of technical and sporting misfortunes was an opportunity to learn.
Soon after enjoying his confidence-boosting win, Martí immediately had his eyes set on the last race on Sunday, where he skillfully led a majority of the laps and managed to cross the finish line in sixth.
Martí’s rookie season of trials and tribulations served as a learning curve in F2. A step up from one feeder series category to another is never easy, even more so with very little going his way, yet Martí handled it without losing hope.
He finished the season with four podium finishes in his rookie season — the other podium coming from his second-place Sprint finish in Spielberg, Red Bull Junior poetically scoring a podium at Red Bull’s home circuit.
The Spanish driver remained firm on his goals and took every blow as a reason to come back stronger. Martí takes pride in his aggressive yet clean driving while also finding his strength in wheel-to-wheel combats.
Campos has recently confirmed that Martí will be joining them for a sophomore campaign in F2 where he will be driving alongside British driver Arvid Lindblad, both drivers sporting Red Bull colours. Martí, overjoyed with the announcement, shares:
“I’m very excited to be returning today [to] Campos Racing for my second season in FIA Formula 2 in 2025. Since the start of my single-seater career, Adrián’s father and son have had faith in me and now we are facing our fifth season together.
I am confident that with this team that I consider as family, and the hard work that we have put in during 2024, we will be very competitive and surely a top contender.”
The Campos driver is determined to have a stronger and more competitive F2 season with the team that he considers family.
His goal of joining the ranks of Formula 1 drivers in 2026 — and even sharing the track with mentor Fernando Alonso — remains firm.
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