Williams have announced that their Driver Academy graduate, Victor Martins, will step into a new role as Test and Development Driver for the 2026 season, dovetailing those Formula 1 duties with a drive in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Alpine.
French racer Martins, 24, joined Williams’ Driver Academy at the start of 2025, having previously won the Formula Renault Eurocup series in 2020, the FIA Formula 3 title in 2022 and then finished as top rookie in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season.
He secured multiple race wins and podium finishes across his three F2 campaigns with ART Grand Prix, most recently taking victory in the 2025 Qatar Feature Race.
Martins will now graduate to a Test and Development Driver role at Williams alongside Oliver Turvey and Harrison Scott, where he will – as per a press release – “play a crucial role in advancing the team’s development programmes to support our F1 drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz as the sport enters an unprecedented change in technical regulations”.
Duties will include refining Williams’ state-of-the-art driver-in-loop (DIL) simulator, which came online at the end of 2025, while he will also be involved in developing a dedicated Driver Academy DIL to support young talent on their path to F1.
“Williams is an iconic team with an incredible history and I’m excited to be part of the project to bring this team back to the front of the grid,” said Martins, who made his F1 practice debut with the Grove-based squad at last year’s Spanish Grand Prix.
“I’ve already had experience working with Alex and Carlos during race weekends, and I’m looking forward to continuing this work with the team in 2026.
“Thanks to [Team Principal] James Vowles, Sven [Smeets, Sporting Director] and everyone at Williams for the opportunity.”
Smeets added: “[Victor] is a talented driver who has consistently given invaluable guidance and feedback to the team, improving our on-track performance and supporting Alex and Carlos throughout the 2025 season.
“His recent experience driving the FW47 in Barcelona FP1 and supporting the TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) programme gives him the real-world context to make real impact on the development of the FW48 and future car programmes.”
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