Gladysz pleased with momentum-building day after ending afternoon fastest for ART Grand Prix

Maciej Gladysz was very satisfied with his and ART Grand Prix’s work on the opening day of the Barcelona post-season test after the Pole topped the afternoon session.

He set a 1:29.003 to lead the pack in the second segment of the day and speaking in the paddock afterwards, the ART driver didn’t’ hide his enthusiasm after earning a positive result on the timing screens.

“Honestly, today was quite good. Every time we're going out of the track, we are building our pace up. I was improving my understanding of the car more on every run.

“It's only the second time driving this new car, so I think it's going quite well. The last run in the afternoon, I think it went quite well. I managed to put the lap together, there was still some bits to find so could have been better, but in the end, I think the result is okay and I'm quite happy with it.

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“Tomorrow is another day, so I will try to repeat it. I will try to do a better lap, but to repeat the result would be nice.”

Gladysz and ART had a quieter test in Jerez last week, with the Polish driver winding up 23rd when the times were at their quickest, but he was more focused on building up his confidence in the F3 car.

Arriving at the second test, he says he can tell where he and the team have made improvements already, and he was happy to see them play out in the leaderboard on day one in Barcelona.

“I think myself and the team have made a big step. Every time we are going out on track, we are making some kind of step with the car. And so far, we are going in the right direction.

“From Jerez to here, I’ve managed to improve many things. It's about putting laps together, tyre warm-up and track position. And I think today those areas went well. So, let's see how everything goes tomorrow, because conditions will be better.

“But for today, I'm quite happy to finish the day like we did, and to understand the car more. So, a huge, huge thanks to the team.”

Day two around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will mark the start of the second half of post-season testing, with two more days coming up around Imola later in the month.

Outside of that, it will be about preparing away from the track in order to hit the ground running in pre-season testing in 2026, and Gladysz is eager to maximise his track time in order to learn as much as possible before then.

“It's actually a big difference because before testing I was driving Eurocup, and now even though it's my second time driving in F3, I’ve made some steps.

“The high-speed corners are a big a difference. The brakes are different, and DRS and speeds on the straight are a big step. But now, I’m building up confidence, and I think it's going quite good.

“Maybe in Jerez, it wasn’t quite as good, but these are post-season tests, so there’s still a long time before we get to Australia, everything will be the most important there.

“But now these days in Barcelona, I think they are going quite well. The confidence on my side is going up, so I'm really happy to finish the day like that.

“After some sessions last week, I was bit down and I was a bit unhappy, but after today’s ones, I'm bit more positive going into tomorrow, and my confidence is growing.”