Freddie Slater (racing driver)

Freddie Slater (/ˈsleɪ.tər/; born 9 August 2008) is a British racing driver who is set to compete in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for Trident.

Born and raised in Warwickshire, Slater began competitive kart racing aged seven. During his successful karting career—culminating in his victories at the junior direct-drive World Championship in 2020 and the European Championship in 2021 (OK-J) and 2023 (KZ2)—Slater graduated to sportscar racing, aged 14. Following multiple titles in Ginettas,^{[note 1]} Slater progressed to junior formulae with his record-breaking 2024 campaign in Italian F4, alongside his victory in F4 UAE. Graduating to Formula Regional in 2025, he won the European Championship and finished runner-up in the Middle East.

Slater was born on 9 August 2008 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.^[1] His father, Adrian Slater, is the owner and managing director of luxury toiletries company Baylis & Harding, which was founded by his paternal grandparents, David Slater and Marcia Simmons, in 1968; his aunt, Tania Fossey (née Slater), also manages the company.^[2] The company previously sponsored Nick Yelloly in the 2015 GP2 Series and the return of Billy Monger in the 2018 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship.^[3][4] His godfather, Mark Sumpter, competed under the Porsche marquee alongside his father.^[5]

Slater was raised in Henley-in-Arden alongside his mother, Olivia Slater (née Meredith), two younger brothers—Alfie and Bobby—and two younger sisters—Daisy and Dottie.^[2]

Having grown up with a long-term Porsche competitor as a father, Slater was introduced to karting at an early age and immediately excelled. After receiving his first go-kart aged five, he fell in love with racing and began competitive karting.^[5] Throughout his karting career, Slater won no fewer than nine titles in competitive karting in his native country and on an international level.^[6] Most notably, Slater won the 2020 Junior World Karting Championship, beating the likes of Arvid Lindblad and Ugo Ugochukwu to the title,^[5][7] and the 2021 FIA Karting European Championship by over 30 points.^[8]

Aged 14, Slater debuted in sportscar racing at the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2022. After becoming the youngest-ever driver to win the Winter Trophy,^[9] he also dominated the 2023 championship.^[10]

Slater made his single-seater debut in August 2023 for Double R Racing, in the British Formula 4 Championship, where he finished 4th on his debut establishing the fastest race lap on his third race.^[11]

In September, Slater entered the Euro 4 Championship for rounds 2 and 3 with Prema Racing. ^[12] Marking his debut with the team, Slater scored 10th place in the championship with 30 points and one pole-position to his name. Later that month, Slater participated in the Italian F4 Championship during Rounds 6 and 7 with Van Amersfoort Racing.^[13]

In preparation for a full season in Italian F4, Slater competed in Formula 4 UAE with Mumbai Falcons.^[14] Slater ended up taking the championship victory by beating teammate Kean Nakamura-Berta to the title.^[15] In 2024, Slater would race in the Italian F4 Championship full-time with Prema Racing.^[16] With his early-season successes, Autosport listed him as one of five "drivers who could become Britain's next [Formula One] winners".^[17] He was crowned as the season's champion during Race 2 of Round 6 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.^[18] Slater would finish the season with a monumental 15 wins, eleven pole positions, and ten fastest laps. This broke the series record for most wins in a season, which was previously held by Andrea Kimi Antonelli with 13 wins in 2022.^[19] He would also have the largest points margin in the series' history, with 143 points separating him and runner up Jack Beeton.

Slater would also race in the Euro 4 Championship, also with Prema Racing. He finished the season in second, while acquiring two race wins and 106 points.^[16]

In September 2024, Slater was announced to be making his GB3 debut at Donington Park with Rodin Motorsport.^[20]

Slater made his Formula Regional debut with SJM Theodore Prema Racing in the 2024 Macau Grand Prix.^[21] Slater would not finish the race due to a final lap crash, but was classified in 13th since he completed over 85% of the race.^[22] Slater was in 4th for most of the race, but crashed into the barriers while attempting a divebomb overtake on Noel León, who was 3rd.^[23]

In preparation for his 2025 FRECA campaign, Slater competed in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Mumbai Falcons.^[24] He had a successful start to the season, winning two out of three races and both pole positions during round 1 at the Yas Marina Circuit.^[25][26] During round 4, which was also held at Yas Marina, Slater claimed two more wins and during races one and three.^[27][28] Throughout the season, he was engaged in a title fight with Evan Giltaire of ART Grand Prix, ultimately finishing second in the standings and first in the Rookie Cup, with a total of 228 points and four wins.^[29] Slater stepped up to the Formula Regional European Championship for 2025, continuing with Prema Racing.^[30]

Along with his main campaigns, Slater competed in selected rounds of the 2025 GB3 Championship with Hillspeed.^[31] During the first round at Silverstone Circuit, Slater set the GB3 lap record at the track in qualifying, earning both pole-positions for the round. He proceeded to win two of the three races held, earning the fastest lap for both, with the third race ending in a 13th place finish following a collision with Nikita Johnson.^[32] After skipping the second round, Slater returned for the third round at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. After claiming the fastest laps for Race 1 and Race 2, Slater won the third race from last on the grid following a decision to wear dry-weather tyres on the drying track.^[33]

At the start of 2026, in preparation for his Formula 3 campaign, Slater will contest the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy with M2 Competition.^[34]

In October 2024, Slater partook in the post-season tests in Jerez and Barcelona with Rodin Motorsport.^[35][36]

In March 2025, Slater joined AIX Racing to partake in the Bahrain in-season test.^[37] He debuted for the team in Sakhir,^[38] qualifying tenth and finishing second in the reverse-grid sprint race,^{[note 2]} amidst a battle for the lead with Nikola Tsolov;^[40] he retired from the feature race due to damage sustained from an opening-lap collision with Alessandro Giusti.^[41]

Slater returned during the eighth round at Spa-Francorchamps with Hitech TGR;^[42] he qualified twelfth, earning him pole position for the sprint, where he struggled with tyre wear and dropped to tenth before receiving 20 seconds of track limits penalties.^[43]

Slater is set to make a full step to FIA Formula 3 for the 2026 season with Trident.^[44]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap; ^superscript indicates points for positions gained)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† As Slater was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap; ^superscript indicates points for positions gained)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of the top-10 finishers)

• Freddie Slater career summary at DriverDB.com
• Freddie Slater on YouTube