Gladysz ‘grateful’ to have achieved maiden first F3 win at Silverstone

Maciej Gladysz says he is “grateful” to have achieved his maiden Formula 3 win this weekend at Silverstone even if it was not the way he would have wanted.

The ART Grand Prix rookie had a strong weekend, finishing sixth in the Sprint before crossing the line fourth at the chequered flag.

Gladysz then inherited P3 once Théophile Nael was given a 10-second time penalty at the line.

But the Polish driver gained two more positions post-race after Ernesto Rivera received a penalty and Matteo De Palo was disqualified.

Speaking afterwards, a delighted Gladysz said: “I'm very happy and grateful to the team. Maybe it’s not the way to take the win or P2, but still, nice points for the championship and a nice first win of the year.

“Being the only Polish driver in the championship, it's something special, I'm super happy. I started from P8, made my way up to the podium, so it's an amazing feeling.

“I'm super grateful to everyone, to the team, to the engineers, to the mechanics, to my teammates, to my family, to the fans and to the gods for helping me always and showing me not to give up.”

Gladysz was involved in quite a few battles out on track, including with Rivera and Fionn McLaughlin – as they all went wheel-to-wheel through Stowe and the Vale chicane.

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• FEATURE RACE: De Palo claims hard fought maiden F3 victory at Silverstone
• Round 5 Post Feature Race Press Conference

Reflecting on the battles, the ART rookie said: “It was honestly a crazy race, so many overtakes. With Rivera I thought I'll keep that position because McLaughlin was defending quite well.

“Then Rivera overtook me back, which obviously was maybe a tiny bit disappointing and not the best from my side, because I think I could have done a little bit better.

“But still, to get a podium in the last lap, which I didn't even know about. So it's honestly crazy news for me, it’s a crazy day. I'm super happy to bounce back like this after three tough rounds, where things haven’t gone as planned.

“We're going back home with the win, and now we're going to the tracks I really enjoy driving it and it should be fun till the weekend.”

Looking ahead, Gladysz is hopeful of achieving more strong results in Spa-Francorchamps and Budapest before the summer break, especially as he has done well at a track he did think he would enjoy.

READ MORE

• Matteo De Palo disqualified from Silverstone Feature Race
• Ernesto Rivera loses podium, several drivers penalised after Silverstone Feature Race

“To be honest I didn't expect I would perform this well,” admitted Gladysz. “Silverstone wasn't my favourite track at all before the weekend. I was like Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, two of my least favourite tracks.

“But everything went well, and coming away with a win and a P6 in the Sprint Race, it's an amazing feeling. Now I'm P6 in the championship, which is quite strong for my rookie season.

“I'm hungry for more, I want to have more and I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weekends.”