Victor Martins

Victor Martins (born 16 June 2001, in Varennes-Jarcy) is a French racing driver and 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup Champion.

Victor Martins
Nationality French
Born (2001-06-16) 16 June 2001
Varennes-Jarcy, France
Formula Renault Eurocup career
Debut season2018
Current teamART Grand Prix
Car number92
Former teamsR-ace GP, MP Motorsport
Starts59
Wins15
Poles21
Fastest laps15
Best finish1st in 2020
Previous series
2018
2016-17		Formula Renault NEC
French F4 Championship
Championship titles
2020
2017		Formula Renault Eurocup
French F4 Junior Champion

Career

Karting

Martins began karting in 2014 after a spell in gymnastics.[1] In 2016, he went on to win the CIK-FIA World Championship title in dominant fashion, leading pundits to liken Martins to Stoffel Vandoorne.[2] In December 2016, Motorsport.com listed Martins as one of the ten karting drivers to look out for, ranking him second to Logan Sargeant.[3]

Lower Formula

Whilst karting in 2016, Martins partook as a guest driver in the fifth round of the French F4 Championship, in which he claimed two podiums.[4] In 2017, 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.[5]

Formula Renault

After driving for them during post-season testing, Martins signed to race with the R-ace GP outfit for the 2018 season.[6] Claiming two wins at the Red Bull Ring and Spa-Francorchamps and two pole positions, Martins ended the season fifth in the overall standings.[7][8] Martins also contested the NEC championship, claiming his maiden Formula Renault victory at Monza[9]

Martins returned for the 2019 championship, switching to MP Motorsport, which had carried Martins's fellow Renault junior Christian Lundgaard to second in the championship the previous year, and finishing runner-up to Oscar Piastri.[10]

He moved to ART Grand Prix for the 2020 season of the championship.

FIA Formula 3

In October 2020, Martins joined ART for the post-season test at Catalunya, which saw him finish in the top ten across all four sessions, with a highest placed finish of fifth on the first day.[11][12][13]

Formula One

In January 2018, Martins was inducted into the Renault Sport Academy.[6] But Renault refused to move Martins up to F3 and then dropped him.

Racing record

Career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2016 French F4 Championship Auto Sport Academy 4 0 0 0 2 0 NC†
2017 French F4 Championship Auto Sport Academy 21 4 9 10 11 299 2nd
2018 Formula Renault Eurocup R-ace GP 20 2 2 1 6 186 5th
Formula Renault NEC 12 1 1 3 2 83 12th‡
2019 Formula Renault Eurocup MP Motorsport 19 6 9 5 14 312.5 2nd
F3 Asian Winter Series Pinnacle Motorsport 3 0 0 0 2 0 NC†
2020 Formula Renault Eurocup ART Grand Prix 20 7 10 8 14 348 1st

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

References
  1. "Who is Victor Martins?". 22 November 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  2. "Victor Martins: The karting prodigy being likened to Vandoorne".
  3. "The Top 10 most exciting karting talents of 2016". 17 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  4. "Meilleur temps pour Yifei Ye au Mans" (in French). Fédération Française du Sport Automobile. 10 September 2016. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  5. "Karting world champion Martins makes single-seater switch". March 18, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  6. "French F4 rivals Rougier and Martins become Renault juniors ahead of Eurocup moves". January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  7. "Formula Renault at Red Bull Ring: Wins for R-ace GP's Fewtrell, Martins". July 22, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  8. Viñals, Arnau (July 28, 2018). "VICTOR MARTINS WINS AHEAD OF THE SUMMER BREAK". FormulaRapida.net. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  9. Waring, Bethanie (July 1, 2018). "Victor Martins takes first Formula Renault win in second Monza NEC race". FormulaScout. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  10. "VICTOR MARTINS MOVES TO MP MOTORSPORT FOR SECOND FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP SEASON". December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  11. "FIA Formula 3 returns to action for Barcelona post-season test". October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  12. "Nannini tops Day 1 of post-season testing in Barcelona, ahead of Hughes". October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  13. "Novalak ends Barcelona post-season testing on top, ahead of Doohan in Trident one-two". October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Oscar Piastri		 Formula Renault Eurocup
Champion
2020		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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