The Spanish driver finishes the seventh round of the season with an unfortunate outcome in which several setbacks have not allowed him to take advantage of the progress and pace he has shown so far.
Martí takes another weekend of learning without results, but he is looking forward to Zandvoort to keep fighting for his first points in Formula 3.
"It has been a very unfortunate weekend. We couldn't take advantage of the good pace we had, luck was not really on our side. I hope that at Zandvoort we can turn the tables".
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps hosted the seventh round of the 2022 Formula 3 season, as always alongside F1 . Pepe Martí was not able to enjoy one of his favourite circuits as much as he expected, after suffering several setbacks that did not allow him to continue with his progression.
The weekend started with a good feeling after a first free practice in which he showed a good performance, finishing with the fourth best time of the grid. Then, in qualifying, a yellow flag interrupted his improvement in the last push, ending seventeenth on the grid for both races.
"In Friday's qualifying we had a yellow flag on the last lap, just as the track was drying out and conditions had improved a lot. At that point we were improving, we were going for a good lap and it was my last chance. At the first corner the yellow flag came out and that made me lose my concentration and finish in seventeenth place", said Martí.
In the first race of the weekend, the Movento-backed Campos Racing driver made a good start and went straight to fight for the points. A run off the track damaged his car and he was out of options.
"In the sprint race, starting from 17th place, we were able to move up to 11th place in the start. Unfortunately, I was overtaken by two cars on the uphill straight and in the chicane I ran rightbehind another driver. He lost a bit of control of the car and went wide in the gravel and in the dirty air I was not able to keep control of my car. I went off the track, broke the water radiator and also punctured the right front tyre. We had to retire the car", explains the young driver.
"In the second race, it was more of the same, we were a bit unlucky. We had a good start from 17th position and I was 12th and even 11th, with a good pace. At the start, we overtook several drivers, but then we realised that the DRS was not working for us. I also had a touch with another competitor who made a strange move; he held the outside in a corner which I didn't expect and when I realised we were touching each other there was nothing I could. The car suffered a lot of damage and that caused us to lose a lot of pace. All in all it was a very unlucky weekend, we couldn't take advantage of the good pace we had, luck was not really on our side. I hope that in Zandvoort we can change the face of the coin", said Martí.
Next weekend, Pepe Martí and Campos Racing will have a new opportunity at Zandvoort, where they will be able to keep working and look for the long-awaited result. This will be the penultimate race of the season before the final round in Monza.