Formula 3 racer Pepe Marti is a potential candidate to join the Red Bull Junior Team, according to its motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.
After finishing down in a lowly 26th in the standings in his debut F3 campaign last year, the Campos Racing team retained Marti for 2023 and he has rewarded the Spanish outfit with a strong start to his sophomore year.
The Spaniard has registered three victories across the opening eight races – including on home soil during the Feature Race at the Spanish Grand Prix last time out – to sit second in the standings.
Marko, who has overseen the Red Bull development programme since 1999 and ushered through the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen into Formula 1, says Marti is one name on his radar.
When asked by Spanish outlet MD on the grid in Spain if Marti was a contender for the Red Bull young driver academy, Marko nodded and responded, “Yes”.
“[He] is very good. He has done very well.
“I have been following him for a long time. Not only today. I’ve been watching him since he jumped into F3. His improvement is significant,” the 80-year-old added.
Marti made his single-seater racing debut in 2021, coming seventh in the Formula 4 UAE Championship before progressing to finish third in the Spanish F4 series.
Progression into in the rebadged Formula Regional Asian Championship followed the next year, with the Catalan driver scoring five podiums in 15 races to rank second overall and scooping the rookie cup.
During a disappointing debut campaign in F3, Marti’s main highlight came when he led the Feature Race at Imola after electing to stay out on wet tyres on a drying track. It would take until the ninth round of the year in Monza for Marti to score his first points, coming home ninth in the Sprint Race.
Despite a tough year, Marti was handpicked by Fernando Alonso to be recruited into the management team owned by the two-time F1 World Champion in September 2022.
Following his impressive opening to the 2023 season, Marti was spotted inside the Red Bull hospitality building in the Barcelona paddock, speaking with Marko.
The 18-year-old has notched points in every race bar one to this point, securing victory in the two Sprint Races in Bahrain and Monaco before adding a Feature Race win in Spain.
However, Marti still remains 24 points behind championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, despite notching one more win than the Brazilian. Bortoleto is also a member of Alonso’s management team.
Nevertheless, Marti has managed to collect vastly more points than either of his Campos team-mates in 2023; Christian Mansell has amassed only five points, while Hugh Barter is still waiting to get off the mark.
Red Bull currently only has a single driver competing in this year’s F3 championship. Sebastian Montoya, son of ex-F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya, was announced to be joining the Austrian camp’s junior ranks ahead of the 2023 season getting underway.
Montoya stood on the second step of the podium in Australia, but the Colombian has struggled for consistency and sits 12th in the standings on 23 points.
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