ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins says his and the teams’ Friday performance at Round 1 of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 season is the perfect springboard for the season ahead.
The Frenchman qualified second in Australia having topped the morning practice session, with 2024 F3 runner-up Gabrielle Mini snatching pole position.
But he will start Sunday’s Feature Race from pole position, after PREMA driver Mini was handed a three-place grid drop for blocking DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford late on in the session.
BREAKING: Gabriele Mini receives two grid penalties following #F2 Qualifying in Melbourne
Victor Martins is promoted to pole position#AusGP pic.twitter.com/qo8I9O9klN
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 14, 2025
The 23-year-old endured a difficult 2024 campaign as the ART team struggled to extract front-running performance from the new F2 car on a regular basis.
The ex-Alpine Academy driver hailed the start to the season, saying: “It is a good start to the championship, last year I was hoping for a start like this.”
Martins said this was the start to the season he and the team “needed”.
He said: “We need these kind of days for our championship campaign, we also need them for our confidence.”
It's Martins who tops the opening Practice session of 2025 ?
He's followed by Maini, Duerksen and Stanek ?#F2 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/bRIWKYS91G
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 14, 2025
Martins thanked and praised his team for the work put in over the winter and during testing to prepare the car, saying they’ve done ‘a great job’.
The 2022 F3 champion said the key for his season is to “stay calm, confident and managing my emotions”.
Martins said he was “really happy” with how he felt in the car, insisting that it’s important to enjoy the good moments in order to continue making forward steps in performance.
Image: FML
