Williams puts Victor Martins on Canada reserve duty

Williams has drafted Victor Martins in as its reserve driver for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix after regular standby Luke Browning was ruled out by a Super Formula clash at Suzuka.

The change gives Martins his first Williams trackside Formula 1 role since his FP1 appearance at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, ending a long spell in which he had been contributing from the factory rather than at the circuit. Browning is competing in the fourth round of the Super Formula Championship in Japan, leaving Williams to reshuffle its backup plans for Montreal.

Martins, 24, joined the Williams Driver Academy in early 2025 and stepped up into a test and development role for the 2026 season. Since then, he has been working closely with race drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz on simulator duties, car development and setup work during race weekends, experience that now carries over into a live trackside assignment at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Confirming the switch, a Williams spokesperson said: “Victor joined the team as a member of the Atlassian Williams F1 Team Driver Academy in early 2025 before graduating into the role of Test & Development Driver in 2026.” The spokesperson added that he “has been working closely with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz from the factory, contributing to car development and setup refinement during race weekends.”

That background makes the promotion more than a simple administrative swap. While Martins has already had recent F1 mileage with Williams through his FP1 outing in Barcelona last year, most of his contribution since then has come away from the paddock. Montreal therefore gives him a chance to return to a direct circuit-facing role after nearly a year on the team’s behind-the-scenes workload.

Martins also arrives with a busy schedule outside Formula 1. The Frenchman is a former Alpine junior and is currently racing for the manufacturer in the World Endurance Championship. His 2026 WEC campaign has opened with back-to-back 11th-place finishes at Imola and Spa.

For Williams, the immediate significance is straightforward: the team still has an experienced internal option available on site despite Browning’s absence. For Martins, it is a notable step back into the F1 weekend environment and his clearest Williams trackside opportunity since Spain last year.