Despite visiting the Tempelhof Airport Circuit for the first time, Pepe Martí bounced back from a tough qualifying P15 to claim P7 in Race 1 of the 2026 Formula E Berlin E-Prix double-header.
Adjusting to the 2.345km, Martí slowly improved throughout the weekend’s opening sessions, claiming P19 in FP1, P16 in FP2, and P15 in qualifying. However, in the race, Martí made a notable step up, gaining eight places while navigating the chaos and a Pit Boost-focused strategy. The Spaniard ultimately finished inside the points in P7.
Meanwhile, his CUPRA KIRO teammate Dan Ticktum qualified P4 but had another difficult race, finishing P20.
Marti on his racing approach
Speaking to Pit Debrief in the media pen after the 2026 Berlin E-Prix Race 1, Martí shared that his P7 result was achieved by learning from each previous event and executing steadily to secure valuable points.
“Honestly, I mean, it’s always a continuous work,” he said. “It’s not just a one-off, we’ve managed to always do good races, especially when they’re more chaotic like this one. We’ve managed to do a good job, so there are, I think, learnings, like how to sort of translate race to race, and we’ve managed to sort of understand, write down and repeat, if that makes sense, and do it again.”
With this approach, Martí currently sits P10 in the Season 12 Drivers’ Standings, 3 points clear of his teammate.
He continued: “Yeah, generally, just quite happy with the results. Obviously, I would have liked to maximise it a bit better. I think the top five was in the cards , but yeah, we can take six points home and be happy.”
Adjusting to the Berlin venue
Unlike other rookies who have previously participated in the Berlin Rookie Tests, Martí entered Round 7 with no Tempelhof Airport Circuit experience.
Now, having completed several sessions on the circuit, Martí was asked by Pit Debrief what he had learned about the track so far:
“Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely a track that points out different things in the car, and it shows out how, you know, especially traction, and grip, how important it is in this championship. And we were doing, yeah, it’s not been my favourite track so far in the season, but to be honest, I mean, there’s things about it that I like, and obviously, we’ve managed to get some points, so I can’t complain.”
Looking ahead to Round 8
Despite claiming a strong result after a mediocre qualifying session, Martí noted that heading into Round 8 he aims to improve his starting grid position, targeting a qualifying spot in the Duels.
“Qualify. Qualify, yeah. I mean, we were much closer to the Duels than it looks,” he told Pit Debrief. “I mean, we’re a tenth and a half away. In the other group, we would have been in the Duels, I think, by three. So, there are positives to take away.”
“I think we’re working in the right direction. It’s been a somewhat tough weekend so far. And my team can hopefully turn around a bit tomorrow, and then we can fight for something at the top.”
