Pepe Marti has had a stellar rookie season and spoke to Motorsport Week on his hopes for the Monaco E-Prix weekend and the second half of the year.
Marti was a surprise addition to the Formula E grid in Season 12, entering pre-season with no prior FE testing or experience. Trading the feeder series ladder for the electric series opened up a new avenue for the Spaniard with Kiro.
Since his signing, Marti has found success with Kiro alongside Dan Ticktum. He’s collected five strong points finishes, coming just one place away from the top five in Jeddah Race 2.
However, naturally, he’s been setting his sights not just on more consistent points-scoring but on top-five positions and potentially a podium. When asked if a podium was possible in Monaco, Marti joked, “I mean, I’d sign it if it were a contract.”
“It’s hard to know. I mean, FE is so predictable.” Pepe said about his hopes of a podium, “Obviously, in Rome I led my first race, in Berlin I was up there fighting, I think coming out of the pit lane for the top five. So, we’ve been close to it.
Looking realistically at the weekend ahead, the Spaniard admitted that finding his way to the top five and staying there was his goal.
“Definitely to that top five, and I think that should be our target. I think the target moving forward has to be something like the top five or the top seven. To keep on scoring, and I think performance-wise we’ve shown quite well that we are capable of scoring a decent amount of points. I think that’s the target right now, and we’ll see.”
In his rookie season in FE, Pepe has yet to race at a track he has previous experience. Monaco is unique for Marti; he’s taken to the track in his F2 career, giving him insight into the layout and increasing his confidence when approaching the close walls.
With a punishing track like Monaco, that insight is welcome, though it does come with many changes.
“Knowing the track quite well. I’ve been here three times, so I know where it goes. I know the bumps and sort of the more close-up stuff by the track.
“For me, it’s a really new experience. It’s the first time I’m really going to get to experience a track that I know on a completely FE spec car. So, I think it’ll be quite interesting to see what I feel relative to my previous experience around Monaco.
“Hopefully, that plays to my advantage, and I can have a good weekend.”
Exceeding expectations
As the season hits the halfway mark, Marti looked back on a season that has exceeded his initial expectations. He told Motorsport Week that he’d rated his season a solid 7.5 or 8 out of ten so far.
“I was talking about this with one of my engineers yesterday. We said, I think something like a 7.5 or an 8 rating is what I would give myself out of 10. Because there’s been really good stuff, and yes, I have gone over my initial expectations, and I’ve done better than what I initially expected to.”
However, despite the strong performances, the Spaniard acknowledged that he had moments where he could’ve done better.
“But at the same time, you look at the performance that I could have had in some tracks, and you’re like, I maybe threw away a couple of points. Like Sao Paulo probably threw away 6 to 10 points. Jarama may be 4 or 5 more. It just adds up, and I think every driver up and down this grid will feel the same way.
“They’ll be happy with some things, and they’ll be unhappy with others. I think all in all it’s been quite a productive first half of the season. I think hopefully I can take all my learnings and perform better in the second half.”
Despite being a rookie, Marti brought a slew of fans with him from his time in the feeder series. On FE’s trip to Jarama, the stands were full of fans cheering on their fellow countrymen. With the King of Spain making an appearance. In FE, the barrier between fans and drivers is much lower than in F2, giving fans greater access. Marti praised this, likening it to the opinions many have of IndyCar and its accessibility.
“I think it’s great. It reminds me a bit of when people talk about IndyCar. Of how close it is, and people can almost go into the garage. And I think as big as Formula E is right now, it’s still a growing championship. And I think it’s very important that we maintain that close relationship with the fans. I think F1 is very exclusive nowadays. It’s so hard to get into the paddock if you’re not either working or a big personality. So I think it’s good to keep it that way.
“It’s good that the people have an interest in the championship, in the drivers, in the teams and manufacturers. They come around, they’re able to walk to the paddock, see the cars. I think that really brings people closer to the championship.
“I think it’s a more normal way of seeing it. Obviously, F1 is F1, and all the drivers are elite superstars. And it makes sense because in the end it’s the biggest Formula World Championship in the world. And probably the most sport championship in the world. So I think it’s good that FE looks at it this way and tries to make it more accessible for people.”
Ticktum’s support proving crucial
To help him learn, he’s had Ticktum as his teammate, and despite the bad press the Brit often receives, Marti told Motorsport Week that he’s been a ‘great teammate’.
“He’s obviously been very helpful in some of the races where he hasn’t scored points. Where he probably should have. He’s been a great teammate. He’s got this sort of image in the media that he’s a bad person or that he’s a bad working personality. Obviously, I’ve really enjoyed my time with him so far.
“Obviously, when it goes right, we’re all happy. When it goes shit, we’re not so happy. But in the end, we’ve worked pretty well. You look at the points tallied, the team were close to six, seven, fifth place in the constructors, which is hopefully our target. That’s blown apart. So from my side, I’ve really enjoyed my time with Dan so far. And I think we do a really good pairing of drivers. If we perform slightly better and we manage to get all of it in the window, I’m sure we can find ourselves both fighting for a top five in the same race.”
Looking towards the second half of the season, the Spaniard admitted he’s identified his biggest areas for improvement. For him, qualifying has been the one area that he hasn’t been up to scratch, and it’s something he’s working on.
“Definitely qualifying. That’s the main part. I think I’ve become a lot quicker as a driver. But I think looking at my performance grading across the season. Unfortunately, in Mexico, I had to do quali in all tyres. There’s been qualis where I wasn’t able to show my potential.
“There’s been qualis where I didn’t perform myself. That being said, for example, Berlin Race 1, where I just didn’t really do the job enough. So I think it comes down to me having a really big role. You have to put yourself in the right time. Be lucky with a bit of a red flag, and nothing happens to you. I think it’s a bit of everything. But that’s definitely the main focus of the season.”
Marti hit the ground running in a championship filled with many unknowns and unpredictable factors. In the first half of the season, he’s managed to consistently fight for points, which is a position that even some of the more experienced names on the grid struggle with.
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