ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins will take the wheel for Williams during the upcoming FP1 session in Barcelona. The Frenchman, currently racing in F2, will step into Alex Albon’s FW47 for the 60-minute FP1 session on Friday.
Martins, who joined the Williams Driver Academy in March, has made stellar strides in 2025. The 23-year-old has accumulated 33 points in his third F2 campaign and holds a stellar record of not qualifying outside the top three in 2025.
A former Alpine junior, Martins burst onto the F2 scene in 2023. The ART racer won the F3 title in 2022 by narrow margins, stepping up alongside Theo Pourchaire. The latter would go on to become F2 champion in 2023, while Martins took home the Rookie of the Year award. Martins finished an excellent fifth, winning the feature race in Silverstone to go with eight further podiums.
The Frenchman only added to his success in 2024, finishing seventh in the standings. Martins overcame a slow start to the season, winning the Barcelona sprint. He took a further four podiums in the final five weekends, solidifying his championship position.
Alongside his F2 campaign, Martins has also undertaken test sessions for Williams. The Frenchman, alongside fellow junior Luke Browning, undertook a private test in Monza under the TPC (Testing Previous Car) programme.
Williams, on the other hand, have had their best start to a season in almost a decade. The Grove-based outfit signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari ahead of 2025 to partner the established Alex Albon. The Thai-Brit has been the star of 2025, taking three P5 finishes and only missing out on points once.
Sainz, meanwhile, has taken longer to get to grips with his new machine. However, the Spaniard is currently on a run of four consecutive points scores, after missing out on points in Bahrain.
Williams currently sit a distant fifth in the constructors’ standings, with 54 points to their name. The team heads into Spain on the back of its fourth consecutive double-point finish. Both Albon and Sainz finished ninth and tenth in Monaco.
Martins looking forward to an “incredible experience” in Barcelona
“I’m super happy to be taking the wheel of the FW47 for the first time in Barcelona,” Martins shared, following the announcement.
“It will be an incredible experience to drive for the team. 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 for giving me this opportunity, and I am looking forward to enjoying every second of it!” Martins expressed.
Williams Sporting Director, Sven Smeets, added, “We’re proud that Victor will be taking part in his first Formula 1 session with us in Barcelona. He 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 have prepared him well and we look forward to seeing him in the garage this weekend.”
