Freddie Slater (racing driver)

Freddie Slater (/ˈsleɪ.tər/; born 9 August 2008) is a British racing driver who competes in the Formula Regional European Championship for Prema and part-time in the GB3 Championship for Hillspeed.

Born and raised in Warwickshire, Slater began competitive kart racing aged seven. After a record-breaking karting career—culminating in his victories at the junior direct-drive Karting World Championship in 2020 and the Karting European Championship in 2021 (OK-J) and 2023 (KZ2)—Slater graduated to sportscar racing, aged 14. He won his first title at the Ginetta Junior Winter Series in 2022, followed by the 2023 Ginetta Junior Championship. Slater then progressed to junior formulae, winning the Italian F4 Championship in 2024 with Prema, alongside the F4 UAE Championship with Mumbai Falcons. Graduating to Formula Regional in 2025, he finished runner-up in the Middle East Championship.

Freddie 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] His godfather, Mark Sumpter, competed under the Porsche marquee alongside his father.^[3] He 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 5, he fell in love with racing and began competitive karting.^[3] Throughout his karting career, Slater won no fewer than nine titles in competitive karting in his native country and on an international level.^[4] Most notably, Slater won the 2020 Junior World Karting Championship, beating the likes of Arvid Lindblad and Ugo Ugochukwu to the title,^[3][5] and the 2021 FIA Karting European Championship by over 30 points.^[6]

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,^[7] he also dominated the 2023 championship.^[8]

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.^[9]

In September, Slater entered the Euro 4 Championship for rounds 2 and 3 with Prema Racing. ^[10] 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.^[11]

In 2024, Slater would race in the Italian F4 Championship full-time with Prema Racing.^[12] With his early-season successes, Autosport listed him as one of five "drivers who could become Britain's next [Formula One] winners".^[13] He was crowned as the season's champion during Race 2 of Round 6 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.^[14] Slater would finish the season with a monumental 15 wins, 11 pole positions, and 10 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.^[15] 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 2nd, while acquiring two race wins and 106 points.^[12]

In preparation for a full season in Italian F4, Slater competed in Formula 4 UAE with Mumbai Falcons.^[16] Slater ended up taking the championship victory by beating teammate Kean Nakamura-Berta to the title.^[17]

In September 2024, Slater was announced to be making his GB3 debut at Donington Park with Rodin Motorsport.^[18]

Along with his main FRECA campaign, Slater competed in selected rounds of the 2025 GB3 Championship with Hillspeed.^[19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21]

Slater made his Formula Regional debut with SJM Theodore Prema Racing in the 2024 Macau Grand Prix.^[22] 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.^[23] 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.^[24]

In preparation for his 2025 FRECA campaign, Slater competed in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Mumbai Falcons.^[25] 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.^[26][27] During round 4, which was also held at Yas Marina, Slater claimed two more wins and during races one and three.^[28][29] 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.^[30]

Slater stepped up to the Formula Regional European Championship for 2025, continuing with Prema Racing.^[31]

In October 2024, Slater partook in the post-season tests in Jerez and Barcelona with Rodin Motorsport.^[32][33]

In March 2025, Slater joined AIX Racing to partake in the Bahrain in-season test.^[34] He debuted for the team in Sakhir,^[35] qualifying tenth and finishing second in the reverse-grid sprint race,^[a] amidst a battle for the lead with Nikola Tsolov;^[37] he retired from the feature race due to damage sustained from an opening-lap collision with Alessandro Giusti.^[38]

(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)

* 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)

* Season still in progress.

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

* Season still in progress.

• Freddie Slater career summary at DriverDB.com