27/05/2025 15:43
Williams has announced that FIA F2 star Victor Martins will make his F1 weekend debut at the Spanish Grand Prix. Frenchman Martins is to deputise for Alex Albon in Barcelona, taking over the FW47 for his first official F1 outing as part of the mandatory FP1 sessions for rookie drivers. Martins, the 2022 FIA F3 champion, is currently driving for ART in FIA F2, with a best-result of third place in the Saudi Arabian feature race. Previously with Alpine, Martins joined the Williams Academy in March of this year, and first drove for the team in a private test session at Monza in April. He had first sampled F1 machinery with Alpine in 2023. Martins is the second Williams young driver to get an FP1 session in 2025, following Luke Browning taking over Carlos Sainz's seat in Bahrain. It means Williams has now fulfilled two of the four slots, with both Albon and Sainz required to miss one more FP1 session throughout the year. "I'm super happy to be taking the wheel of the FW47 for the first time in Barcelona, it will be an incredible experience to drive for the team," Martins explained. "I'm working hard to prepare as much as possible to maximise my time in the car and make it a valuable session for myself and the team. I'm hugely grateful to everyone at Williams Racing for giving me this opportunity and I'm looking forward to enjoying every second of it!" Sporting director Sven Smeets added that Martins "continues to demonstrate that he is a talented driver, and this session is an important step forward in his career as part of the Academy. "His participation in our TPC programme and simulator work in Grove has prepared him well, and we look forward to seeing him in the garage this weekend."
