TRIDENT’s Freddie Slater secured his second Feature Race podium of the 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) season with a third-place finish in Monaco, capping off a challenging but ultimately rewarding weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo.
Starting from third on the grid, Slater remained in contention throughout the F3 Feature Race but was unable to challenge for the lead as overtaking once again proved extremely difficult around the tight Monaco circuit. Speaking to the media in the post-race press conference, with Pit Debrief in attendance, Slater discussed the importance of maximising opportunities in Monaco, where track position often dictates the outcome of the race.
“For me, it was obviously a bit of a difficult one. Still a good result in the end, but as you know, around Monaco, it’s very difficult to overtake.”
The challenges of Monte Carlo
The TRIDENT driver pointed to lessons learned from Saturday’s Sprint Race, where an ambitious opening-lap move resulted in contact and front-wing damage. After showing strong pace throughout the weekend in Monaco, the incident left Slater unable to fight for the result he had hoped for and provided a valuable learning experience ahead of Sunday’s F3 Feature Race.
“I tried yesterday. It didn’t quite work. I made a mistake. I think I learned a lot from that, from my side especially.”
With track position proving crucial, Slater instead focused on extracting the maximum possible result from Sunday’s race.
“Today, I just did a clean job. Obviously, I knew there was one point up for fastest laps, so that was the goal at that point, to try and get the fastest lap. I think that was the goal for everybody on the grid at that point once the race settled down.
“I was doing what everyone else was doing at points, but it’s just how Monaco goes. It’s qualifying where the race was won and lost, and also the start. Brando had a great start, and so did I to be honest, but as you know, T1 is very tight. It’s just how it goes around there.”
Slater’s second F3 podium this year
The Monaco Feature Race podium marked another strong result for Slater after his front-running performances in the Melbourne round, and he believes his ability to adapt quickly to new challenges has been one of the biggest positives of his rookie Formula 3 campaign.
“I think it’s been a very positive start to the season, especially for my first time racing in Formula 3 this year. To come in and be on the pace straight away in Melbourne, and straight away here in Monaco in Free Practice we were very strong.
“I think it’s a very positive thing for myself to be able to adapt and get on with the pace very quickly.”
Looking ahead to the next round in Barcelona, he expects a very different challenge compared to Monaco’s unforgiving street circuit.
“Barcelona is going to be a very different, completely different type of track. People have probably been there a million times in their racing careers, so everyone’s pretty level there, and the gaps in qualifying are going to be very small. Also, it should be very hot as well, so degradation can be very high.”
Consistency paying dividends this year
The F3 Monaco Feature Race podium also continued Slater’s run of consistency in a championship renowned for producing unpredictable results.
“F3 is the most chaotic championship I’ve ever watched, and also been a part of.
“For me, it’s super important just to keep finishing where you can, just maximising. If a P4 is on the table, you’ve got to take the P4, and if a podium’s there, you’ve got to take the podium. For me, it’s just important to be consistent at all times, and we’ve done that so far.”
Looking back to the Sprint Race
Slater’s podium came less than 24 hours after a difficult Sprint Race in which he learned a valuable lesson about racing in Monaco. Starting from the fifth row of the grid, the TRIDENT driver found himself caught up in the chaos that unfolded throughout the race. He caused a collision with Ernesto Rivera, and Théophile Naël, and was delivered a 10-second time penalty from the ordeal.
Reflecting on the weekend as a whole, he identified Saturday’s contest as one of the most significant learning experiences of his young Formula 3 career. When asked by Pit Debrief about the biggest challenge of the Monaco weekend and the key lessons he would take away from it, Slater pointed to the Sprint Race as a defining moment.
“I think for me, one of the most difficult parts was actually the sprint race. For me, the pace we had and obviously it’s quite chaotic and accepting you can’t overtake is something that probably doesn’t come to me at first, because we’re all racers and for me, I just want to race.
The experience taught him the importance of accepting the realities of Monaco and focusing on bringing home the best possible result.
“So I think that’s one of the things I probably learnt the most from here, especially for the future, you know, when it comes to times like that, you just need to finish where you can. And I think that’s one of the biggest lessons I definitely took from this weekend.”
The Feature Race reset
After the disappointment of Saturday, Slater explained that resetting mentally ahead of the Feature Race was one of the keys to securing a podium finish.
“Yeah, for me, obviously, I made a bit of a mistake yesterday. The pace we showed was really positive and then I knew coming into the future race, what I had to do and the pace we had.“
With Sunday’s race presenting a completely different challenge from starting near the front of the field, Slater focused on applying those lessons.
“So for me, it was just about resetting and going again from a bit of a different position because, you know, going from that P10 area is very chaotic as normal. I think it was just valuable lessons from the sprint race for myself, for the future race as well, but also for the future. So yeah, it was some learnings.”
The split between the top 3
By the conclusion of the F3 Monaco Feature Race, Brando Badoer and Naël had created a 17 second gap between themselves and Slater in P3. Badoer started in P2, but maximised the race start, to finish the end of Turn 1 ahead of pole-sitter, Naël. Badoer then controlled the remainder of the race out front, securing his maiden F3 victory.
When asked by Pit Debrief whether there was anything the chasing pack could have done differently to catch the front runners, Slater offered his honest thoughts.
“Well, for me, I think it’s very tough. I think if you look at all the races, even Formula 2, I think everyone had a similar approach of cooling down, slower lap, pushing, not pushing. You know, everyone did the same thing.”
He felt the eventual race winner executed the race perfectly once he found himself at the head of the field.
“So I think Brando knew exactly what he had to do when he’s in the lead and I think that’s normal. You know, it’s Monaco and very difficult to overtake, as we’ve seen.“
According to Slater, there was little the drivers behind could realistically do to challenge for victory.
“Brando just had to kind of drive around at a decent pace and keep everyone behind and it was going to be OK. And then obviously everyone else was doing a bit of a different strategy with Théo [Naël] and me, Ugo [Ugochukwu] and everyone behind. So I think it was just one of those things that at the end of the day, the race was won on Friday [in Qualifying].”
Race management proving crucial in Monte Carlo
Race management became a major talking point throughout the weekend, with drivers regularly alternating between quick and slow laps as they balanced tyre management, gap creation and fastest-lap attempts.
“Yeah, I think it was more the strategy of pretty much everyone. I think you saw me and Ugo doing quite a similar thing, honestly, with kind of backwards and forwards. “
While the approach may not have satisfied the racer inside him, Slater understood the bigger picture.
“And yeah, I know. I wish I… As a racer, you just want to keep pushing every lap, but for the benefit of the championship and then try to get the maximum points that you can in any situation, which today, for me, was finishing third at that point after the start and then trying to get the fastest lap.
“I knew what I had to do. I think it’s just a thing you’ve seen this weekend between all the drivers, but also in other categories. So yeah, that’s what I learned.”
“We’re all racers at the end of the day”
Asked whether Monaco has become more about survival than pure racing, Slater acknowledged the unique challenge posed by the Principality.
“Yeah, I think, obviously, with Monaco, everyone knows how difficult it is to overtake. So it’s a surprise to get stuck in the first couple of laps, especially in the start, because it might be your only opportunity to make a difference.”
As a result, drivers naturally take risks whenever opportunities arise.
“So I think everybody tries to do that, I was one of the people yesterday, for sure. I think it’s just how it goes sometimes. I think you just, yes, you’ve got to survive. We’re all racers at the end of the day and we just want to, we always want to try and overtake each other and battle as hard as we can. And yeah, it’s just how it goes around here.”
Having left Monaco with another podium and currently sitting P3 in the F3 Drivers’ Standings, Slater heads to Barcelona carrying both momentum and experience, determined to build on what has already been an impressive start to his rookie Formula 3 campaign.
