Qualifying :
Following encouraging free practice sessions, whose main objective was to build confidence, Taito qualified 7th in his group, which placed him 14th overall. Kanato, in the same group, qualified 11th in his group, finishing 22nd overall. In the other group, Maciej set the fastest time before the track evolved significantly. Despite a minor brush with the wall on his penultimate lap, he found 4 tenths on his final flying lap to climb up to 7th in his group, ending up 13th overall.
Sprint :
During the opening lap battle, Taito damaged his front wing and had to replace it. The incident dropped the Japanese driver to last position, but he courageously recovered to P16 thanks to impressive pace and lap times.
Despite two safety cars and a red flag, Maciej and Kanato managed to fight their way back into the points. The Japanese driver brilliantly gained 13 positions from 22nd on the grid and was rewarded with his first points in Formula 3 by finishing 9th. The Polish driver finished one place ahead of his teammate (8th).
Feature Race
On Sunday, Maciej suffered the same misfortune as Taito the day before and crossed the finish line in 27th position. In a processional race offering no overtaking opportunities, Kanato took 17th place at the flag, while Taito finished close to the points (11th).
Taito KATO
“The private testing in Spielberg, where I set the fastest time, gave the whole team a confidence boost. In Monaco, I was optimistic because I like street circuits, like Macau where I performed well. Not knowing the track, the goal was to build up momentum by relying on the team’s experience, and it generally worked well, even if there is still the frustration of not having scored points. This fundamental work will be important in the coming weeks.”
Sébastien Philippe
“It was the first time our three drivers raced in Monaco, and after three months without competition, the challenge was significant. As always here, qualifying is crucial in F3 and several small mistakes cost us dearly.
However, the points finishes from Maciej and Kanato, as well as Taito’s 7th fastest lap in the race, show that our potential was stronger than the final results suggest. ART Grand Prix continues to progress according to its roadmap, which is encouraging for the rest of the season.”
