Victor Martins has found new home at Williams to be its F1 academy member after leaving Alpine at the end of 2024 season.
Having lost his chance to remain with Alpine after the 2024 F1 season, Martins has found a new home at Williams to be part of its academy line-up for the rest of the 2025 season. He will continue his F2 programme with ART Grand Prix as he started.
He will get his first opportunity to try the Williams F1 car at Monza later this weekend under the Testing Previous Cars programme alongside fellow F2 racer and academy member Luke Browning, who competes for Hitech GP in 2025.
The duo will drive the FW45. Interestingly, Martins hasn’t been named as a direct reserve as he seemingly takes the place of Franco Colapinto, who moved to Alpine. “I’m super happy to be joining the Williams Racing Driver Academy,” he said.
“This is a new chapter for me, but my goal remains the same – to push myself to the limit, both as a person and as a racing driver, and to make it to Formula 1. Williams is an iconic team with an incredible history, and I’m confident this is the best place to be to help me achieve my goals.
“This year, I’ll put all my focus into winning the Formula 2 Drivers’ Championship with ART Grand Prix and maximising this opportunity with the Driver Academy both on and off the track. I look forward to working with everyone at Williams as we embark on this new journey together.”
At the same time, Sven Smeets added: “We’re thrilled to welcome Victor to the Williams Racing Driver Academy. He has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a talented driver who is capable of winning championships. We will continue to support Victor’s development on and off the track as part of the Academy and look forward to working with him in 2025.”
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