{"id":21151,"date":"2024-05-16T14:44:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T18:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=21151"},"modified":"2024-05-16T14:44:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T18:44:37","slug":"the-ups-and-downs-of-f2-red-bull-driver-pepe-marti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/05\/16\/the-ups-and-downs-of-f2-red-bull-driver-pepe-marti\/","title":{"rendered":"The ups and downs of F2 Red Bull driver Pepe Mart\u00ec"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sentence-wrapper sentence-wrapper_target blur-gradient\">\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">F2 driver Pepe Mart\u00ec spoke with selected media, including LWOS, of his ups and downs during his career until his arrival in Formula 2.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After a difficult last season in Formula 3,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">this year<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in F2 Pepe Mart\u00ec wants to prove his\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">true<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0value on track. The Spaniard\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">is closely guarded<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by Helmut Marko,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">being a member of the Red Bull Junior Team<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0from this year. Mart\u00ec spoke with selected media, including LWOS, about his difficulties last year and his\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">good<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0start to the season in Formula 2<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ups and downs in Formula 3<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last year\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Spaniard started his second year in Formula 3 in the best way possible. In 2022, Campos Racing struggled to find the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">right<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0setup for the car\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Mart\u00ec finished with only points in the standings. But in 2023, things seemed to have changed. The First victory came in Bahrain in the Sprint Race, crowned\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">also<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by the fast lap.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">During the year,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Pep\u00e8 collected two more wins and a third place at Silverstone.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0The last victory was perhaps the most special: after an excellent qualifying that got him the pole position, Mart\u00ec crossed the finish line in first position.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In front of his home crowd and of the eyes of a proud Fernando Alonso.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Despite the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">good<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0start to the season, the first difficulties started in Hungary, culminating with the first retirement at Spa and the double withdrawal at Monza.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Disaster for championship contender Pepe Marti in the Sprint! \ud83d\ude31<\/p>\n<p>A collision with Mini, then he collects Cohen upon returning to the track <\/p>\n<p>But, he made sure to apologise to Cohen for their race-ending incident \ud83e\udd1d<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BelgianGP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#BelgianGP<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/F3?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#F3<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Be6DuDyAQX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Be6DuDyAQX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Formula 3 (@Formula3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Formula3\/status\/1685238990297866241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 29, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;I<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0had doubts on myself. We had a strong car last year. In Spa, I made a bad call on the tires\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">but<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I was a bit forced. In Monza, I was taken out in turn one in both races.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0&#8220;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Marti commented on his season last year, which ended with a fifth position in the final standing<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Twenty<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0more respect 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Red Bull Junior Team and A14<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Spaniard started to race in karts at 11 years old for Fernando <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Alonso&#8217;s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0team. Since then, the two have\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">always<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0been close\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0the 2-time world champion became\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Marti&#8217;s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">manager,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0following <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/05\/03\/what-is-behind-the-current-problem-in-the-step-up-from-f2-to-f1\/\" target=\"_self\">his Motorsport career.<\/a> This program includes Maximilian Gunther, Nikolas Tsolov, Gabriel Bortoleto, Carl Bennett, and Clement Novalak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In August 2023, F2 driver Pepe Mart\u00ec\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was announced<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0as a new\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">member of the<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Red Bull Junior Team.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0The young driver described this news as<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0a <em>&#8220;<\/em><\/span><em>childhood dream come true&#8221;<\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> However, expectations in Red Bull are very high, and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the drivers must perform at their best because their place in the program is always at risk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;H<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">elmut Marko is my boss\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">so<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0he is strict<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, he<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0was happy for me in Bahrain and not in Jeddah. He wants me to deliver.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That\u2019s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0how it works. Motorsport is a ruthless world\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">so<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0you always want the best<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A new begging in F2 for Pepe Mart\u00ec<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In the first round of the F2 season, Pepe Mart\u00ec proved to be very fast, and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> he got on the podium both in the Sprint and in the Feature Race, respectively\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">with<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0a third and a second place.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Not<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0a bad start for a rookie who, with Paul Aron, seems to conduct the pace in the new grid.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0However, things got more difficult in the last two rounds.\u00a0After a weekend not so much up to his abilities in Jeddah, Mart\u00ec was ready to redeem himself in Melbourne. Unlucky for him, in the Sprint Race\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Isaac<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Hadjar, in teammate in Campos, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/04\/10\/lots-of-action-and-chaos-in-the-third-round-of-f2-in-australia\/\" target=\"_self\">pushed Bortoleto and Mart\u00ec outside the track<\/a>, a few seconds after lights went out. Both drivers retired, with a lot of frustration from Mart\u00ec.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">No<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> points for him also on Sunday, while Hadjar won the race. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Despite <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the difficulties<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, Mart\u00ec trusts the team and his abilities:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">t\u2019s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0been a very positive start of the year\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0it makes up for a tough end of\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the year<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0last year in F3<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">had some doubts. But to be honest, last year<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">knew we had the pace\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in the pre-season test of\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">F2<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I already knew the car was strong\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0from the first race, we were already there. For me, what I need to improve is qualifying, same as last year. And\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">it\u2019s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0a bit of a shame, to be honest, because I feel\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I\u2019ve<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0improved\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">but<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I need to do more<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Spaniard is proud of the team\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">which<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0seems to have understood how the new car works.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">All\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">is not lost<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0after the two races\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0with<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0another eleven rounds left around the world, Pepe Mart\u00ec could still climb the F2 standing.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sentence-wrapper sentence-wrapper_target blur-gradient\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>F2 driver Pepe Mart\u00ec spoke with selected media, including LWOS, of his ups and downs during his career until his arrival in Formula 2. After a difficult last season in Formula 3,\u00a0this year\u00a0in F2 Pepe Mart\u00ec wants to prove his\u00a0true\u00a0value on track. The Spaniard\u00a0is closely guarded\u00a0by Helmut Marko,\u00a0being a member of the Red Bull Junior [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4754,"featured_media":21164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544,7],"tags":[1991,2045],"class_list":["post-21151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-2","category-more-racing","tag-campos-racing","tag-pepe-marti"],"modified_by":"Vincent van der Hoek","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4754"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}