Pepe leaves Imola empty-handed despite strong pace.

The Campos Racing driver began the fourth round of the season with a difficult qualifying session, which was cut short by a red flag with six minutes remaining.

In the Sprint Race, he was involved in an incident at the start that left him with no chance of scoring points, and on Sunday, an ill-timed safety car ruined his strategy while he was running near the front.

"I’m holding my head high because the pace was there. In the final five laps, we were by far the fastest on track."

Pepe Martí wraps up a challenging weekend in Imola, where luck wasn’t on the side of the Campos Racing driver despite showing competitive pace throughout the Grand Prix, which marked the fourth round of the Formula 2 championship.

On Friday, Pepe started with positive feelings during free practice, but qualifying didn’t go as planned. Just as he was about to set a time that could have put him in the top 10, a red flag prematurely ended the session, leaving him in 11th place:"It’s been a tough weekend. We started well in free practice, we had good pace and I felt comfortable. In qualifying, we lacked confidence on the first set of tyres. On the second set, when we could have made a step forward to reach the top 10, the session ended early due to a red flag. The tight schedule meant it couldn’t be resumed. It’s a shame, because it was out of our control and it compromised the entire weekend," explained the driver.

Saturday’s Sprint Race didn’t bring any reward either. Martí was hindered at the start by a driver ahead who got away poorly, and he was later pushed off the track. Although his race pace was strong, the early setback left him with no real chance to recover."We were very unlucky. The car in front had a bad start which affected my getaway. Then I was pushed off the track. When you start on the back foot and out of position, it’s hard to make progress," he summarised.

On Sunday, during the Feature Race, the Spaniard opted for a different strategy and briefly led the race after a well-managed opening stint. However, the arrival of the safety car on lap 15 ruined his plans."We had an average start but managed to fight back and took the lead thanks to the alternate strategy. The last thing I wanted was a safety car on lap 15… and that’s exactly what happened," he lamented.

Despite the final result (14th), Pepe remained upbeat:"I’m holding my head high because the pace was there. In the final five laps, on the soft tyre, we were by far the fastest on track. We’ll take that to Monaco with a lot of confidence, especially for qualifying, which is even more crucial there."

The Red Bull Junior Team driver finishes the weekend with his sights already set on the next round of the championship — a street circuit where qualifying is even more vital, and where he shone in 2023. He leaves Imola sixth in the overall standings, with a total of 41 points.