Freddie Slater
Background
Freddie Slater is a British racing driver in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident. He leads the 2026 title race in his first season in the category, and in January 2026 he became the first junior driver signed by Audi as the manufacturer prepares for its Formula 1 entry.
Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in August 2008, Slater arrived in single-seaters with one of the strongest karting records of his generation, including the Junior World Championship in 2020 and two FIA Karting European titles. He has won a championship at almost every level since.
Junior career
Karting and Ginetta Juniors
Slater's karting record set the expectations: the 2020 Junior World Championship, then European titles in 2021 and 2023. He moved into cars with the Ginetta Junior Championship, winning the winter series in 2022 and the main title in 2023.
2024 — a record-breaking F4 season
His first full year of single-seater success was emphatic. Slater won the Italian F4 Championship with Prema Racing, taking 15 wins from 21 races, a series record, and finishing 143 points clear of the runner-up. In the same year he won the Formula 4 UAE Championship with Mumbai Falcons.
2025 — Formula Regional champion
Slater won the Formula Regional European Championship with Prema Racing, the same title Rafael Câmara had taken the year before, and finished runner-up in the Formula Regional Middle East series. That title earned him the step up to Formula 3.
2026 — the F3 title fight
Slater followed a path that is becoming familiar at Trident. Câmara arrived from the same Formula Regional title with Prema and won the F3 championship as a rookie in 2025. Slater is attempting the same thing a year later, in the same team.
His season turned at Budapest in late July. He took his maiden F3 victory in the Feature race, holding off Campos Racing's Ugo Ugochukwu, and moved to the top of the standings for the first time. He goes into the summer break on 130 points, eight clear of Ugochukwu, with two rounds and five races left to run.
Earlier in the season he had taken his first F3 pole position at Silverstone, his home circuit.
Career record
| Year | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ginetta Junior Championship | R Racing | Champion |
| 2024 | Italian F4 | Prema Racing | Champion |
| 2024 | Formula 4 UAE | Mumbai Falcons | Champion |
| 2025 | Formula Regional European (FRECA) | Prema Racing | Champion |
| 2026 | FIA Formula 3 | Trident | P1* |
Honours & records
- 2025 Formula Regional European champion
- 2024 Italian F4 champion, with a series-record 15 wins from 21 races
- 2024 Formula 4 UAE champion
- 2023 Ginetta Junior champion
- 2020 Junior World Karting champion
- FIA Karting European champion, 2021 and 2023
- Audi's first junior driver
Common questions
Who is Freddie Slater?
A British racing driver with Trident in FIA Formula 3. He leads the 2026 championship as a rookie and is the first junior driver signed by Audi.
Why is the Audi signing significant?
Audi is entering Formula 1, and Slater is the first driver it has taken into its junior programme. That gives him a direct route toward a manufacturer F1 seat rather than an open-market one.
Could he win the F3 title as a rookie?
He leads by eight points with two rounds left. Trident's Rafael Câmara did exactly that in 2025, arriving from the same Formula Regional championship, so the precedent is recent.
Rafael Câmara
Won the Formula Regional title with Prema, then the F3 championship with Trident as a rookie. Now in Formula 2.