Pepe remains solid despite a tough weekend

The Red Bull Junior Team driver battled for a top-5 finish in Sunday’s Feature Race, but a post-race penalty left him without points.

In Saturday’s Sprint Race, he didn’t even make it through the first corner after being unintentionally caught up in an incident. However, he bounced back to show strong pace and consistency in Sunday’s main event.

“It’s been a tough weekend, in which we weren’t able to score points despite qualifying in sixth position. However, the pace was positive and we’re now focused on preparing well for the next round.”

Pepe Martí wraps up a challenging weekend on the streets of Baku, where his strong performance on track was not matched by luck.

The Red Bull Junior Team driver secured a solid sixth place in Friday’s qualifying session, confirming his strong pace despite a puncture in free practice that limited his track time.

Saturday’s Sprint Race was short and frustrating for Martí. He barely made it past the first corner, getting caught between two cars in a first-lap incident that forced him to retire with no chance to showcase his potential.

Sunday’s Feature Race brought a very different feeling. Starting from sixth on the grid, Martí made an excellent start and, after a quick pit stop under the safety car, found himself running in podium positions. Throughout the race, he held his ground in the fight for the top five, defending well against direct rivals and showing maturity on one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar.

Although he crossed the line in sixth place, a post-race penalty left him without any points. Even so, the pace he showed strengthens the team’s confidence heading into the decisive phase of the championship, which will resume in Qatar after a nearly two-month break.

“It’s been a tough weekend, where we couldn’t score any points despite qualifying sixth. Friday was already challenging with a puncture in free practice that severely limited our running, and that took its toll. Even so, we managed a solid qualifying session with sixth place, which, although there was room for improvement, gave us some relief. Then, on Saturday, we couldn’t even complete a single corner in the Sprint, which left us with no options. On Sunday, however, we had a fairly decent race: we lacked a bit of overall pace, but we were well positioned until a penalty knocked us out of the points,” says Pepe.

“I’m very frustrated with the weekend’s result because I believe we had the chance to score points. But I prefer to focus on the positives: the pace was there, and that’s important. Now it’s time to think about Qatar, where we’ll have time to prepare properly for the return to racing and arrive with maximum energy and opportunities for the final stretch of the championship.”

With this result, Martí retains sixth place in the overall standings. FIA Formula 2 will be back in action from 28 to 30 November in Qatar, ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.