Pepe Martí has become a firm contender for the Formula 3 title and Helmut Marko has taken an interest in him.
The Spanish driver Pepe Martí has become the revelation of the 2023 Formula 3 season, the third step towards Formula 1. His performance in this championship, which competes in nine weekends sharing a circuit with the premier category, could ‘ give wings’ to the 17-year-old, as his three victories so far this season have caught the attention of Red Bull.
At least that is what emerges from the photograph taken by the Soymotor website in the paddock of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where Martí is seen meeting with Helmut Marko, head of the young pilots program of the energy drink company. The meeting took place just a few hours after Pepe had achieved victory at his home circuit.
Martí has three wins so far this season, two of them in two iconic places. Less than a week ago, Monaco was added to the one achieved in the inaugural event in Bahrain, a circuit where every driver dreams of winning sometime in his sports career. Only a few days later, Martí triumphed in Spain, before his people and only nine days before his 18th birthday.
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Pepe is currently second in the Formula 3 championship, where he is 24 points behind the leader, Gabriele Bortoleto, with five double rounds (and 10 races) still to go. Curiously, both Bortoleto and Martí are part of “A14 Management”, Fernando Alonso’s company of young talents.
Precisely Alonso closely follows the progress of his pilots. “(Fernando) told me that it was a perfect race. In the end today everything has worked out for us from 10. Fernando for me a long time ago, transferring his advice is something very important to me and hopefully in the future I can do the same,” Martí said in a statement to Mundo Deportivo.
“His experience helps me a lot. For example, in the simulator before Monaco, where I had never raced, it helps you with braking points, where you look, etc. There is no one with Fernando’s experience and for me it is very useful ”, he added.
As always happens when the results arrive and the attitude convinces, the opportunities do not take long to appear. According to Soymotor, Red Bull’s interest in Martí has reached the point that before the meeting between Marko and Pepe, the Red Bull adviser already met Adrian Campos Jr., head of Campos Racing, for whom Martí currently runs .
A supposed support from Red Bull could be a great boost for Martí to make the leap to Formula 2 next year and continue his rise in world motorsport to keep the dream of F1 alive.
The energy drink company lacks young promises – its program has been reduced in recent times – and they never lose hope of finding the new Vettel or Verstappen… as well as the successor to other Spaniards, such as Jaime Alguersuari, Antonio García or Dani Juncadella, who also wore the Red Bull logos in the past.
However, accepting an offer from Red Bull could mean breaking the contract with Fernando Alonso’s agency, although… Can anyone say no to Red Bull, knowing that it could be the door to F1? Remember that name, in the coming years we will hear a lot about Pepe Martí…
