Freddie Slater: ‘Incredible’ Melbourne a great starting point for 2026 title hopes

While he didn’t achieve a maiden win at the first time of asking in 2026, Freddie Slater says that he and TRIDENT were able to maximise their results, with P2 in the Feature Race a positive starting point.

The Briton reflected on his results and experience in Melbourne as a productive start to the campaign and believes the approach he took was the right one.

“It was an incredible atmosphere, and it was amazing to feel the passion of the fans all weekend,” Slater said. “I said to my coach I've never been so excited to drive in my life.

“The track was an awesome track to drive, and I think the weekend was really, really positive. We built it up really well from Practice to Qualifying, because obviously I didn't know the track compared to a lot of other people.

“It was very important for me to have the right approach and not be over the limit or too at the limit. I think we did a really good job preparing as a team to do that.

“Qualifying went really well, and I think to finish P2 in the Feature Race, especially with a track I didn't know and a medium tyre that I had very limited running on, I think it was very positive. Maybe a few moments hindered the chances of a win. But then those are all lessons.”

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Rivals Campos Racing were quicker out of the gate in Round 1, and the Audi F1 junior says that it was unlikely he and TRIDENT would have been able to overturn their advantage across the weekend.

However, Slater says that how they reacted to the initial running in Practice and built into the weekend was a huge positive point.

He added that the team was able to find pace and while there were a few errors along the way, they were important lessons to take experience away from.

“The way we built through the sessions - we weren't that competitive at the start. We made a few changes to try and help performance.

“I think generally we were fighting for pole, but it was going to be very difficult for us to beat Campos. I think Campos were very strong in Melbourne and I think we did a really good job in maximising what we had at that point.

“Of course, it was fine margins, maybe you could have done things a little bit differently or found a couple of hundreds somewhere, but I think generally, we did a really good job.”

Overall, Slater says that the weekend was a positive considering his relative lack of experience versus his closest rivals.

Both Ugo Ugochukwu and Théophile Nael were battling with the TRIDENT driver at the sharp end, and both are in their second F3 seasons.

Slater says that he learned a great deal across the Melbourne weekend, from how to approach the races to maximising the Pirelli tyres, an area he feels will bring more performance with more rounds under his belt.

“Well, there's probably nothing you can't embrace at this point, especially when you start P10, P12, that sort of area, it is very intense. People try to move forward very quickly and it's easy to crash, especially in Melbourne.

“You saw a lot of moments, especially on the first lap, that were very easy to get caught up in. And to be honest, I did quite a good job to avoid that.

“That's the main thing - just how crazy the Sprint Races will be. Then I think the Feature Race, I think everybody learned quite a lot from the Sprint in terms of how much they could push.

“So, the Feature Race in a way, panned out was quite calm, I'd say, without as much going on. I think what happened was everyone saw how aggressive it was for the eight laps that we did. So I think it kind of changed the way the Feature Race went.

“I think it's going to be an important year of understanding the tyres in the Feature Race. I'm experiencing something for the first time when I'm driving. I'm having to adapt to it there and then, and it’s tough especially if you're fighting a second-year driver who knows what it should feel like and what happens.

“Race-by-race, I'm just learning more about the tyres, how they react to certain things, and the track dependence and all of that. I think it's good learning.”