The Spanish talent claimed victory in the sprint race at the Monaco Grand Prix after a masterful performance, finishing 8.123 behind the second-placed rider.
Martí, who continues to gain experience and add to his achievements, left Monaco looking forward to the next race in what will be his home Grand Prix.
"It has been a weekend of many emotions. From the first free practice everything was a total discovery, being a circuit I didn't know... I leave Monaco as one of the winners of the weekend and that makes me very happy".
Pepe Martí had a hectic weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was his first time on the Montecarlo track, which is a completely urban track. The young driver is taking steps forward in his professional career, gaining experience and leaving his mark, as winning in Monaco is a great milestone.
It was Saturday's race, in which Martí dominated from start to finish with the style of a champion. He took advantage of his pole position to take the lead at the first corner of Saint-Devote. He held the lead for the first lap, and for the whole race after the neutralisation of the race by the safety car due to the incidents on the opening lap. Marti increased slightly the gap to the second placed driver to try to take more than a second from him when the DRS was activated. He achieved his objective and from that moment on he managed his leading position with authority, increasing his advantage spectacularly, without using his tyres excessively. He crossed the finish line 8 seconds ahead of the second placed driver.
On Sunday, in the second and last race of the weekend, Martí started from eleventh place and after a race of survival, trying to score points for the championship, he crossed the finish line in ninth position. The Spaniard left Monaco in sixth position in the championship with 37 points after three rounds.
"It has been a weekend of many emotions. From the first free practice everything was a total discovery, as it was a circuit I didn't know. It was also in wet conditions and that made it difficult to get a clear idea of the car for qualifying. The track dried up but we didn't have the opportunity to do many laps in the dry. After that, qualifying didn't go as well as it could have, plus on my best lap there was a bit of traffic. I finished sixth in the group, which due to a penalty from the rider in front of me, resulted in pole position for the sprint race on Saturday. It was an almost perfect race, we started well and led from start to finish, with a good pace. It was a great feeling to win at this circuit, so mythical and special for all the riders. In the last five laps of the race I was like in a 'trance', it was a very strange thing. I was in such a high level of concentration, I was so far away from everything around me, I was so focused on driving. It was very special to win here, it's something I had imagined many times as a kid and to be able to achieve a dream like that is incredible. In Sunday's race, I had a good start, I got a good position but just when I wanted to overtake the car in front of me, the driver was slowed down by the car in front of me, and this caused me to lose a place. After that, I was able to keep my position. Due to a communication problem with my engineer, I couldn't take advantage of the seconds penalty given to the rider in front of me in the standings, and I finished ninth when I could have scored more points in the championship. However, I am very happy with my feeling and with everything I have learnt. I am looking forward to keep working and to my home Grand Prix in Barcelona in the next few days. I leave Monaco as one of the winners of the weekend and that makes me very happy".