Williams Names Martins as Reserve Driver for Las Vegas GP
Williams has officially announced that Victor Martins will assume the role of reserve driver for the upcoming Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Having joined the Grove-based team’s academy in 2025, the French driver has served as a test and development driver alongside official reserve Luke Browning.
Since the British driver’s commitments are centered on his full-time campaign in the Japanese Super Formula series, Martins now has the chance to deputize for Alex Albon or Carlos Sainz if either is unavailable.
This represents the first instance since last month’s Singapore Grand Prix that Martins, who has also raced for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship this season, has held the designated reserve position.
“I’m looking forward to coming to track with the team in Vegas, as it’s always a valuable experience for me to see how my work behind the scenes is being put into practice trackside,” Martins said.
“It will be my first time in Vegas with the team, so looking forward to learning as much as I can and supporting the team.”
Martins plays a vital role within the Williams organization as it works to resolve issues with its FW48 car this season.
During an exclusive conversation with Motorsport Week at Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year, Martins stated that the team were “hungry” to challenge at the front of the grid.
“They all want to first know the direction to take, but I think this is for sure we know it, the direction to take and what to improve,” he said.
“We just need to do small steps every time, race after race.”
“And being part of that is quite nice as a driver because you learn a lot. You learn a lot about how the team is operating and the overall approach about an F1 team.
“So definitely, I think everyone is hungry to be back and there will be more updates coming for sure. And everyone will be happy to see that it’s performing on track at some point.”
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