Victor Martins (born 16 June 2001) is a French-

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

racing driver and member of the

Alpine Academy The Alpine Academy – formerly known as the RF1 Driver Programme, Renault Driver Development and Renault Sport Academy – is a program to support young racing drivers through their careers. The programme was created by Renault F1 in 2002. In ...

. He won the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Career

Karting

Born in

Quincy-sous-Sénart Quincy-sous-Sénart (, literally ''Quincy under Sénart'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. The palaeographer and archivist Robert Marichal (1904–1999) died in Quincy-sous-Sénart. Population Inhab ...

to a French mother and a Portuguese father, Martins began karting in 2014 after a spell in gymnastics. In 2016, he went on to win the CIK-FIA World Championship title in dominant fashion, leading pundits to liken Martins to

Stoffel Vandoorne Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of M ...

. In December 2016, Motorsport.com listed Martins as one of the ten karting drivers to look out for, ranking him second to

Logan Sargeant Logan Hunter Sargeant (born December 31, 2000) is an American racing driver, who most recently competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Carlin. He will compete for Williams Racing in the 2023 Formula One World Championship, having grad ...

Lower formulae

Whilst karting in 2016, Martins partook as a guest driver in the fifth round of the

French F4 Championship French F4 Championship, formerly known as Formula Renault Campus France, Formula Campus, Formul'Academy Euro Series, F4 Eurocup 1.6 is a form of open wheel racing founded in 1993 by Louis Drouet. It is based in France and aims at karting graduates ...

, in which he claimed two podiums. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Martins returned to contest the series full-time, claiming four wins, nine poles, ten fastest laps and eleven podiums and finishing as junior champion and overall vice-champion, just four points behind

Arthur Rougier Arthur Rougier (born 20 July 2000) is a French racing driver who is currently competing in the ADAC GT Masters with Emil Frey Racing. He was the 2017 French F4 champion and part of the Renault Sport Academy The Alpine Academy – formerly ...

Formula Renault

2018

After driving for them during post-season testing, Martins signed to race with the

R-ace GP R-ace GP is an auto racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsport, specifically those involving Renault. They are currently competing in the Formula Regional European Championship, Italian F4 and ADAC F4. History R-ace GP was f ...

outfit for the

2018 Formula Renault Eurocup The 2018 Formula Renault Eurocup is a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across Europe. The championship features drivers competing in 2 litre Formula Renault single seat race cars that conform to the ...

. Claiming two wins at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

and

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

and two pole positions, Martins ended the season fifth in the overall standings. Martins also contested the NEC championship, claiming his maiden Formula Renault victory at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

2019

Martins returned for the 2019 championship, switching to

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport (previously Marcel Peters Motorsport) is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The team has also participated in Auto GP, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern Europea ...

, which had carried Martins's fellow Renault junior

Christian Lundgaard Christian Lundgaard (born 23 July 2001) is a Danish professional racing driver who is driving the No. 45 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the IndyCar Series. He was the 2022 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, and was a member of the A ...

to second in the championship the previous year. He finished runner-up to

Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri (born 6 April 2001) is an Australian racing driver who previously served as the reserve driver for Alpine F1 Team, having previously been in the team's driver academy. He won the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup with R-ace GP, and won ...

, with 7.5 points splitting the pair at the end of the year. Martins won six races, achieving 14 podiums throughout the year, three more than rival Piastri.

2020

He moved to

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...

for the 2020 season of the championship, partnering

Grégoire Saucy Grégoire Saucy (born 26 December 1999) is a Swiss racing driver and the current champion of the Formula Regional European Championship. He will race with ART Grand Prix in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship. Career V de V Challenge Monopl ...

and rookie Paul Aron. In a hard-fought battle with Brazilian

Caio Collet Caio Jotta Collet (born 3 April 2002) is a Brazilian racing driver who most recently competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for MP Motorsport. He is the 2018 French F4 Championship champion and a member of the Alpine Academy. Career Ka ...

Martins came out on top, after seven victories and a nine race long podium streak during the middle of the season, ending up 44 points ahead of Collet.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

2021: Top rookie

In October 2020, Martins joined ART for the post-season test at

Catalunya Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northe ...

, which saw him finish in the top ten across all four sessions, with a highest placed finish of fifth on the first day. He ended up signing for

for the 2021 Formula 3 season, alongside fellow Alpine junior and Formula Renault Eurocup title rival

and

Tijmen van der Helm Tijmen van der Helm (born 26 January 2004) is a Dutch racing driver currently competing in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship with ARC Bratislava, and the 2022 European Le Mans Series with TDS Racing. Personal life Van Der Helm was b ...

. The Frenchman's season started out positively, after a second place in race two of the opening round, and two podiums at his home round in Le Castellet. However, after a fifth place finish at the first race in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Martins went five races without scoring points. This streak ended at

, where Martins battled with Jack Doohan for the feature race victory, eventually having to settle for second, after which the French driver took his first win in the series in the second sprint race in

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

. After another podium in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Martins finished fifth in the drivers' standings, becoming the best-placed rookie of the season.

2022: Championship season

He tested for

during the post-season testing and the following year, was announced in their line-up for the 2022 campaign. In the opening Bahrain round, Martins took his first win of the season by winning the feature race over Arthur Leclerc. Another podium followed in the

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

sprint race, before the Frenchman came out victorious during the feature race at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, coming back from a mechanical failure that lead to a retirement on Saturday. His form continued, as Martins took second places at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

and

Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

respectively, before following it up with another double-points finish in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. After the summer break however, Martins experienced a shocking weekend in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, qualifying lowly thanks to an error on his final flying lap during a mixed-weather session, before being taken out of the feature race by

Kush Maini Kush Maini (born 22 September 2000) is an Indian racing driver currently competing in the 2023 Formula 2 Championship for Campos Racing. He has previously competed in Formula 4, the Formula Renault Eurocup, the FIA World Endurance Champions ...

. He came back fighting, scoring a second place in the feature race at

to put himself into the lead of the championship with one round remaining. Having stated that he " idn'twant to think, ejust

anted Anted is the name of the coins issued by Antedios Antedios or Anted
homepages.rpi.edu was an ancient k ...

to do" before the season finale in

, Martins took the championship victory after finishing both races in the points, thus becoming the first drivers' champion for a team other than Prema in the category. His closest title rival

Zane Maloney Zane Maloney (born 2 October 2003) is a Barbadian racing driver. He was the 2019 British F4 champion and finished as runner-up in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship, racing for Trident. In December 2022, it was announced he was joining the Red ...

, who finished a mere five points behind the Frenchman, commented after Martins' title had been confirmed that there was "no one better to win the championship".

Formula 2

At the conclusion of the 2022 F2 season, Martines drove for ART during the post-season test at the

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina was ...

Formula One

In January 2018, Martins was inducted into the

Renault Sport Academy The Alpine Academy – formerly known as the RF1 Driver Programme, Renault Driver Development and Renault Sport Academy – is a program to support young racing drivers through their careers. The programme was created by Renault F1 in 2002. In ...

. After the 2019 season the French driver was released from the program. Martins rejoined the newly formed

Alpine F1 Team Alpine F1 Team, competing as BWT Alpine F1 Team, is a Formula One constructor which made its debut at the start of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Formerly named Renault F1 Team and owned by the French automotive company Groupe Renault ...

academy on the 10th of February after his Formula Renault Eurocup title win.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Martins was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
^‡ Martins was ineligible for points from the third round onwards.

Complete French F4 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As Martins was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martins, Victor 2001 births Living people French racing drivers French F4 Championship drivers Sportspeople from Essonne Formula Renault Eurocup drivers FIA Formula 3 Championship drivers Auto Sport Academy drivers R-ace GP drivers MP Motorsport drivers ART Grand Prix drivers F3 Asian Championship drivers Pinnacle Motorsport drivers Karting World Championship drivers FIA Formula 3 Champions French people of Portuguese descent