With paddock reporting from Sergio Álvarez, images courtesy of Ester Caballero

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There was a time when the path to the top of single-seater racing was a straight, uncompromising line. You ground it out in Formula 3, survived the high-stakes pressure cooker of Formula 2, and then prayed the Formula 1 gods handed you a multi-million-dollar lifeline. If they didn’t, you were effectively left out in the cold.

But look around the paddock today, and the trend has visibly inverted. The feeder series pyramid is leaking top-tier talent, not into F1’s notoriously closed shop, but straight into the high-voltage electricity of Formula E. Young guns are no longer waiting by the phone. Instead, drivers like Zane Maloney and Dan Ticktum have traded the traditional ladder for a direct line to major automotive manufacturers, recognizing that an electric factory seat offers something a reserve role in F1 rarely can: a legitimate, long-term professional career.

Enter Josep Maria “Pepe” Martí. The 21-year-old Spaniard—mentored by none other than Fernando Alonso—is the latest high-profile prospect to make this deliberate jump. Stepping away from F2 mid-season to spearhead CUPRA Kiro’s line-up, Martí has quietly been putting together a highly impressive rookie campaign. He currently floats just outside the top 10 in the drivers’ standings, displaying a level of consistency and tire-and-energy management that usually takes rookies years to master.

You’d think Pepe Martí had been taking styling cues from The Running Man’s Dynamo, given how effortlessly he zaps his way through the field in a high-voltage, neon-lit electric racer—though honestly, we’re all just praying his next podium ceremony includes an operatic solo. If Pepe could hit those glass-shattering high notes while blasting past rivals at 180 mph, he wouldn’t just be a Formula E prodigy; he’d be the ultimate singing, sprinting, light-up showman the motorsport world never knew it needed.

The crown jewel of his season arrived just a few weeks ago on the legendary streets of Monaco. In a classic, chaotic Formula E chess match, Martí pulled off a masterful recovery drive, cutting through the field from 15th on the grid to cross the line in fourth. When his polesitting teammate Ticktum was handed a post-race time penalty, Martí was rightfully elevated to third. He became the first Spanish driver in history to stand on a Formula E podium, proving that he isn’t just adapting to electric racing—he’s actively taming it.

Our own Sergio Álvarez had an opportunity to grill his fellow countryman in Jarama about the joys of Formula E racing in general. This is what Pepe had to say (translated from Spanish by Iberianmph).

Iberianmph: Considering this recent string of wild races, would you want to fulfil the role of the race director one day? Dishing out those simply lovely penalties, etc..

PM: Right now it’s not in my plans! Right now I have a lot of racing in front of me, with some luck. I don’t have that in my plans. As a rookie driver, that’s what it is.

Iberianmph: And what about the standards of driving in Formula E? Coming from the FIA Formula 3 and Formula 2, what do you make of your rookie experience here in Formula E?

PM: Well, very different, very different. At the end of the day, Formula E has nothing to do with anything else. Drivers here have a lot of experience and the way they race has nothing to do with other categories. It’s difficult to compare.