Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Freddie Slater

  • F3 – RND 7 – Day 2 & 3

    Sprint Race

    It was a great start from fourth place for Kanato Le, who took the lead before getting up to Turn 1. Le settled into second ahead of Nael with Ernesto Rivera in fourth.

    But the Safety Car was called upon following a collision at the front of the field. Jin Nakamura hit the rear of Xie heading into Turn 2 before going into the side of Maciej Gladysz.

    Nakamura and Gladysz were out of the race, while Xie continued on to the pitlane with a right rear puncture, before coming back out at the back of the field.

    Racing resumed on Lap 4 and Le led Nael away with Rivera in third ahead of Mattia Colnaghi, with Brando Badoer in fifth.

    In the battle for sixth, after multiple laps of pressure, Ugo Ugochukwu made his way past Nicola Lacorte with the help of DRS into Turn 1.

    On Lap 8, Ugochukwu was up to fifth with another move at the opening corner, this time on Brando Badoer.

    There was a change for the lead on the next lap with Nael, having been within DRS range for several laps, making an impressive late move on Le at Turn 1.

    On to Lap 11 and Le had managed to stay within DRS range of Nael, while Rivera had closed in on the top two.

    It was bad news for Ugochukwu however, as he was given a five=second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on the opening lap. At the same time, his pace was starting to fall off with Badoer right on his rear with DRS.

    Lap 14 of 19 and Le had managed to stay within DRS range of Nael, while Rivera dropped back, leaving the top two to fight for the lead.

    For Ugochukwu he was now two seconds behind Colnaghi, and Badoer dived to the inside of the Campos at Turn 1 to retake 5th.

    Lacorte tried to follow him through but with the gap closing, the DAMS driver and Ugochukwu made slight contact, this allowed Taponen to make a move past the Italian for seventh.

    The American driver was starting to fall through the field with Taponen now demoting him to P7 on Lap 17 at Turn 2, while Lacorte made his way past later in the lap.

    Back at the front, Le was coming under pressure from Rivera for P2, but Nael was in a world of his own, winning by 2.7s to earn his second victory of the season. Le held off Rivera to take his first F3 podium.

    Feature Race

    It was a clean start from pole for Taponen keeping the lead ahead of Slater, while Mattia Colnaghi retained P3 despite pressure from Badoer.

    Slater was keen to take the lead early on and looked to go the inside of Taponen at Turn 12. But the two made slight contact, leaving the Trident driver with front wing damage.

    The Safety Car was called upon moments later with Maciej Glaysz and Gerrard Xie in the barrier at the exit of Turn 13. The DAMS Lucas Oil driver collided with Jin Nakamura which sent him into the ART Grand Prix rookie, with all three out of the race.

    Taponen used the opportunity to come into the pitlane having suffered a right rear puncture, and with the other drivers following him in, he only dropped to P6.

    The incident between Slater and Taponen was under investigation as the Brit led the field away at the restart on Lap 6.

    But the Virtual Safety Car was signalled moments later with Salim Hanna having stopped on track at Turn 13.

    With the AIX Racing car cleared from the track, racing resumed on Lap 7 and Colnaghi was under pressure from Badoer and Ugochukwu.

    The Campos driver was showing great pace and went around the outside of both Badoer and Colnaghi at Turn 2 to get up to second with one of the moves of the season.

    At the same time, the Stewards ruled that there was No Further Action for the incident between Taponen and Slater.

    But the Briton had new problems with Ugochukwu right on his gearbox on Lap 12, and he went defensive into Turns 1 and 2 to keep his race lead.

    The Virtual Safety Car was called upon on the next lap with Kanato Le having stopped at Turn 12.

    Racing resumed on Lap 14 and Ugochukwu resumed his attack on Slater, but the top two were not alone, with Badoer, Colnaghi and Theophile Nael all right behind.

    The Safety Car was out on the next lap following a three-car collision at Turn 1 between the AIX cars of Fernando Barichello and Yevan David, as well as Enzo Deligny.

    Barichello was left on the side of the road with a broke rear left suspension, while David and Deligny continued on – although the Van Amersfoort Racing driver retired in the pitlane.

    Slater led the field to green on Lap 18 of 24 as Nael and Taponen went wheel-to-wheel at Turn 1. The MP driver was not pleased, believing he had been run off the track by his Campos rival.

    On Lap 19, the Briton extend his lead out front to 1.1s, breaking the DRS barrier to Ugochukwu. The American fought back on Lap 21 but was too far behind to make a move.

    Ugochukwu was closer to his title rival on the penultimate lap, even looking up the inside at Turn 9, but once again Slater held on.

    On to the final lap and Ugochukwu once again had DRS but was still not close enough to Slater to make a move.

    The British driver had done enough and took his first ever victory in FIA Formula 3 and with that the championship lead going into the summer break.

  • F3 – RND 6 – Day 1

    Practice-

    Trident’s Freddie Slater wound up fastest overall in the Spa-Francorchamps Free Practice session, setting a 2:06.311 to lead the pack.
    Theophile Nael was second for Campos Racing, with Pedro Clerto third for Rodin Motorsport.

    With preparation laps complete, Nael set the early time to beat with a 2:08.335. That was quickly beaten by compatriot Alessandro Giusit, who lowered the benchmark to a 2:06.895.

    MP Motorsport teammate Tukkka Taponen then usurped him to go to P1 with a 2:06.622, with Slater moving up to second, just 0.093s behind the Finn.

    Maciej Gladysz put ART Grand Prix top of the pile on his next attempt, before Clerot and then Slater beat his time. The Briton went to P1 with a 2:06.311, 0.239s ahead of the Brazilian.

    Drivers returned to the pitlane with over 10 minutes to go to wait for more optimal track conditions.

    With the cars back on track and the session ticking into the final five minutes, drivers went for their next flying laps, but there were few improvements in the field

    Nael rebounded from an earlier setback in the session to move himself up to P2. Taito Kato was another to find time, jumping up to eighth place, 0.274s off Slater’s earlier effort.

    Into the final minute and there was plenty of scrapping for track position in the third sector as drivers fought to get one last run in, but nobody could find any more time on their well-worn Pirelli Hard tyres.

    Slater ended up fastest ahead of Nael and Clerot, with Gladysz and Ernesto Rivera rounding out a top five that was covered by a quarter of a second.

    Qualifying-

    Freddie Slater earned his second Aramco Pole Position Award Pole Position Award, setting a 2:05.150 on his first attempt in a rain and Red Flag-affected session.

    The Trident driver finished ahead of Tuukka Taponen, who earned P2 for MP Motorsport, while Hiyu Yamakoshi wound up third, although the Van Amersfoort Racing driver was involved in the session-ending Red Flag incident.

    The session began with rain beginning to fall and drivers were desperate to get their times in early in case the intensity increased.

    Louis Sharp was at the head of the field and delivered a 2:06.864, but he was bettered immediately by teammate James Wharton.

    Pedro Clerot then went to the top until Yamakoshi went quicker still. Taponen beat the Japanese driver by 0.088s to take provisional top spot.

    But Slater went quickest overall on a 2:05.150, a quarter of a second ahead than the Finn in P2 with everyone’s first laptimes on the board.

    Drivers pushed on immediately for a second attempt as the rain increased, with Fionn McLaughlin informed over team radio that heavy rain was five minutes away.

    Noah Stromsted went up to fourth on his second lap ahead of Ernesto Rivera in fifth with 22 minutes to go.

    Drivers then backed off to prepare for another flying lap which kickstarted the battle for track position, with everyone eager for a slipstream to avoid leading the field from the very front.

    Some drivers opted to pit at the end of the lap while those that continued and opened a third attempt found that track conditions had deteriorated enough to prevent any improvements. They all boxed at the end of the lap with 17 minutes left of the session.

    Cars re-emerged from the pitlane with just under half of the session remaining and with several drivers in search of an improvement. Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu sat ninth as his closest rival in the Standings retained provisional pole.

    There was more battling for track position heading into the final 10 minutes but this time, several cars made contact. Stromsted collided with Yevan David, who tagged Jose Garfias, while Yamakoshi was involved.

    It caused a Red Flag with 9:38 left on the clock with the Trident, AIX Racing and Van Amersfoort Racing cars needing to be cleared away.

    With the rain increasing, the session was not resumed. It left Slater on top ahead of Taponen and Yamakoshi.

  • F3 – RND 5 – Day 1

    Practice-

    Freddie Slater was on it from the green light at Silverstone, setting a 1:46.161 to end Free Practice fastest overall for Trident.

    The Briton set his first flying lap time, and his benchmark remained unbeaten throughout, as he was followed by Campos Racing’s Ernesto Rivera and teammate Matteo De Palo in third.

    Tuukka Taponen set the initial benchmark time to beat early on, logging a 1:47.652 inside the opening 10 minutes before the track got busier.

    Jin Nakamura was next to lead the way, 1:47.337 putting him ahead of Taponen’s initial effort with 30 minutes to run.

    Slater was flying from the first lap of his weekend as he went to the top on a 1:46.161, over a half second quicker than next-best Rivera.

    The Mexican driver cut the deficit to 0.266s on his next flying lap, with de Palo a further two-tenths back in third place with over 20 minutes to go.

    Both Rivera and De Palo delivered improvements with 12 minutes to go, but neither could better Slater’s initial time, closing the gap down to 0.15s and 0.212s respectively whilst staying P2 and P3.

    Van Amersfoort Racing teammates Hiyu Yamakoshi and Enzo Deligny continued the team’s impressive performances of late, slotting into fourth and fifth at the midway stage.

    Campos Racing teammates Theophile Nael and Ugo Ugochukwu looked set to deliver an improvement in the final five minutes, but a Virtual Safety Car test meant they had to abandon their laps.

    Qualifying-

    Freddie Slater delivered when it mattered, earning his maiden Aramco Pole Position Award in the Championship and Trident’s first of the 2026 season.

    Theophile Nael wound up to P2 with a late lap under pressure having been down in P29 ahead of the final run. Louis Sharp secured third place on the grid for PREMA Racing.

    Tyre prep complete and it was an early PREMA 1-2-3 headed by Jose Garfias, but the Trident’s of Slater and Matteo de Palo topped the times after several improvements from others.

    The home driver lost his effort though for exceeding track limits at Copse corner to leave the Italian P1 on a 1:46.383, with Ernesto Rivera 0.096s behind in P2.

    After a short stint in the pitlane, the drivers returned to the track and De Palo improved to a 1:46.334. But that was shortly beaten by Rivera, who went 0.031s clear to go to provisional pole.

    The fast times were coming in thick and fast, as Maciej Gladysz took over at the top with a 1:46.293. But a few moments later Slater beat that time by just 0.061s to take P1.

    In the fight for the championship, once again Ugo Ugochukwu and Nael lost their times for breaching track limits, leaving them at the back ahead of their final lap of the day.

    With the pressure laps underway, Nael and Slater found time, but it was De Palo who went purple through the first sector.

    Through Sector 2 and Slater delivered a session-best middle sector. Nael crossed the line first to go provisional pole, until Slater delivered a 1:45.620 to take top sot on home soil.

  • Audi sign Slater as first driver to their development programme

    Rising star Freddie Slater has become the first recruit of the Audi F1 Team’s new Driver Development Programme.

    The British racer will compete in F3 this season with Trident Motorsport, under the guidance of Audi’s new journey academy run by former F1 driver Allan McNish, following a stellar rise through the motorsport ranks.

    He followed up major championship wins in karting with the UAE and Italian F4 Championship titles. Last year, he won the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) in his rookie campaign.

    Audi say Slater’s signing reinforces their “strategic focus on youth and long-term planning, laying the foundation for a competitive team and aiming to cultivate the champions of tomorrow”.

    It’s an incredible honour to be the first driver selected for the Audi Driver Development Programme. Audi is a brand with a legendary motorsport history, and to have their trust and support at this crucial stage of my career is a dream come true. Joining forces with a respected team like Trident Motorsport for Formula 3 and having the backing of Audi Revolut F1 Team is a massive opportunity. I am fully focused on working hard and making the most of this pivotal step towards my goal of reaching Formula 1.
    Slater on the news.

    In Freddie, we see the immense potential of a future star. His track record is remarkable, but more importantly, he possesses the focus, determination, and willingness to learn that are essential for reaching the pinnacle of our sport. He is the ideal candidate to be the first signing of the Audi Driver Development Programme, and we are committed to providing him with the tools, mentorship, and support he needs to succeed as he steps up to Formula 3 with Trident Motorsport. This is the first step in building our future on and off the track.
    McNish added.

  • Slater joins Trident for 2026

    Trident have announced that Freddie Slater will be driving for the team next season – their first confirmed signing for the 2026 Formula 3 campaign.

    Slater is set to step up to F3 full-time after competing in two rounds in 2025 at Sakhir and Spa-Francorchamps, finishing second in the Sprint Race at the Bahrain International Circuit.

    In addition to that, the 17 year old has been taking part in a dual campaign in GB3 and Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in 2025, winning eight races across both categories, and he i currently leading the standings in the latter.

    Slater also finished second in this year’s edition of the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, after also becoming the 2024 Italian F4 and UAE Formula 4 Champion.

    The Briton is now set to step up to Formula 3 full-time with Trident and following the announcement, he spoke of his excitement ahead of the new season getting underway.

    It’s really exciting to start a new journey with a new team. TRIDENT has had a lot of success in recent years, so to be jumping into a team like this, I’m really grateful for the opportunity. Hopefully we’ll have a good season together.
    Slater on the news.

    We are very pleased to announce our agreement with Freddie Slater for the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship. Freddie is an exceptionally talented driver who has consistently shown himself to be among the very best, in every category he has raced, from karting to single-seaters. It is a source of great pride for us to welcome him into the team, and we are convinced that a driver of his calibre will bring significant value to the entire organisation.
    Trident Team Manager, Giacomo Ricci.