Martí hoping to unlock full potential after getting up to speed in Spa drizzle

26 August 2022

Returning after the three-week long summer break, Josep María Martí was pleased to shake off any potential rustiness and hit the ground running in a tricky opening session in Spa-Francorchamps.

Greeted by light drizzle throughout the 7.004km circuit, the track proved to be drier than what the Campos Racing driver expected and provided the perfect conditions for him to claim P4 – his best Free Practice result of the season so far. Marti admitted he was thrilled to hit the ground running from the get-go.

“Actually, going into the session, I was a bit concerned because I was getting back in the car after I haven't driven this car for like a month. Then on the first lap going into Pouhon and I was like ‘okay, if I want to get myself in the field, I have to fully send it. My first lap in Pouhon was nearly as fast as my last lap, so in that sense, I think I had a good approach.

“This car is great around here. I love this track and especially in the F3 car today with the experience I've had in Free Practice is just amazing. It feels like you're on rails the whole time.”

Whilst Campos finished with all three cars within the top four, Martí and his teammates all finished over a second behind Practice pace-setter Reece Ushijima. Acknowledging that they’ve still got to find some pace ahead of Qualifying, Martí is prepared to go full pelt from the outset in order to avoid a repeat of Budapest Qualifying, which saw him lose his final chance at a flying lap due to a Red Flag late on in the session.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was hampered by Red Flags. It's a very long track with a lot of corners, so everybody wants to get their best time possible. There are more corners where you can make mistakes throughout the lap and in that sense, I do expect a red flag. I’ll approach the weather however it is and try to maximise the conditions in the car.

“After what we saw in Hungary where most of us got our last lap interrupted due to the Red Flags, I’m going to try to get a good banker lap in. This track specifically, the first lap on the tyres is where the peak is so that’s going to be hard. With a long track where it’s easy to make mistakes and conditions like these where the track is quite greasy, it makes it even easier to commit mistakes.”

With six races remaining of his rookie campaign, the Spaniard is still on the hunt for his first points finish and his performance in Qualifying could provide a solid foundation for it – particularly if he can crack into the top 12 for the Sprint Race reverse grid. Looking ahead to Friday afternoon’s session, Martí is fully focused on improving himself and believes that balancing the risk versus reward will be the key to unlocking his full performance this weekend.

“Right now, I think it’s all about maximising my potential. In Hungary, I came 13th in Qualifying, a hundredth off my teammate (Oliver Goethe) who got reverse pole and I was a bit unhappy with myself because looking at the data and everything we saw that I had perfectly just in myself and my own driving at least two or three tenths.

“I felt like maybe it’s about not trying to go for more, but just trying to extract what I have within myself. I'm trying to work on that, try to make less mistakes throughout the lap and instead of pushing too hard and going for too much, trying to stay in the area I know where I can be capable of doing a good lap in and that's what gets you in the top 10 most of the time – that's the aim!”