The first race of the 2025 GB3 Championship season delivered a clear message: Freddie Slater is the driver to beat. The Hillspeed racer converted his double pole position into a commanding lights-to-flag victory at Silverstone, as the all-new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 cars took to the circuit for the first time in racing conditions. Behind him, JHR’s Noah Lisle and Rodin Motorsport’s Gianmarco Pradel completed the podium in a contest that mixed strategic tyre management with wheel-to-wheel battles throughout the field.
How the race unfolded
Slater’s launch from pole was smooth, but his opening challenge came from Lisle, who leapt from third on the grid to second by the first corner. The JHR driver briefly threatened through Maggotts and Becketts on the opening lap, but Slater’s defensive line proved decisive. Free from DRS threat by the end of lap one, the British driver steadily built his margin to take the flag with a 6.9-second cushion.
Pradel, who started alongside Slater on the front row, slipped behind Lisle at the start and spent much of the race trying to reclaim second. Despite sustained pressure, Lisle held firm to secure runner-up honours. Behind the podium battle, Rodin teammates Alex Ninovic and Abbi Pulling completed the top five, with Pulling impressing on her GB3 race debut.
There was early drama before the lights went out as Hitech’s Deagen Fairclough stalled on the formation lap, forcing him into a pit-lane start. The reigning British F4 champion recovered strongly to finish 17th after climbing through the order with effective use of GB3’s new DRS system.
Hitech’s Nikita Johnson was classified sixth after inheriting a position from Kai Daryanani, who received a time penalty, while Johnson’s teammate Keanu Al Azhari charged from deep in the pack to finish seventh after gaining five places on the opening lap. Elite Motorsport’s Will Macintyre placed eighth as the team’s best finisher, ahead of the penalised Daryanani in ninth and Xcel Motorsport’s Dion Gowda in tenth.
A controlled lights-to-flag win for Freddie Slater
Slater never looked threatened at the front, and after the race he reflected on both his pace advantage and the uncertainty that came with running the new car in race trim for the first time. He highlighted how his team had adjusted the car to a race-run specification under the new regulations and explained how he had pushed early to build a margin in case of changing weather.
“It was great, obviously there was a risk of rain, as we were going up into Stowe there was a big cloud coming so I knew I had to keep building my margin for a bit of a cushion. Overall super positive, the team gave me a great car to go out there and do what I just did. The pace has been great today and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
“We actually managed to make a slight few changes for the regulations for a race-run spec car let’s say, similar to what Formula 3 do, so it’s a bit of a new thing for all the teams so we all went into it a bit unknown, so nobody was really sure what was going to happen. But we came out on top and the car feels good so that’s the main thing.”
“We’ll have the same plan for tomorrow, we’ll see what the track conditions are like in the morning and should be good fun.”
Noah Lisle happy to hold second
Lisle made one of the best starts in the field, immediately moving into second place and briefly challenging Slater on lap one. While he admitted Slater’s pace was out of reach, he remained upbeat about the result and confident his team could find improvements overnight. He also explained the tricky nature of the race start, with many drivers still adjusting to the new machinery.
“I got a good start, good launch off the line,” he said, continuing, “I don’t think too many people had done practice starts and everyone kind of got bogged down a bit but I think we got away with it. I managed to make up the position and I had a little look up the inside of Freddie going into Maggotts and Becketts but ultimately I think he had the edge on us for speed anyway, so it would have been a hard race from there but I’m very happy.“
“We’ll look overnight to try and find something to get a bit closer to Fred and then hopefully we can be in a bit more of a fight, but P2 again tomorrow would be achievable so we’ll aim for that.”
Gianmarco Pradel: Podium but more to come
Pradel, who started on the front row, lost out to Lisle at the start and was unable to reclaim the position despite consistent pressure. After the race he spoke about how difficult it was to follow closely in the new GB3 car, describing the impact of dirty air and identifying the start as the key area to improve for race two.
“After the start which didn’t go the best, it was really just a big battle and the dirty air was a lot more in these cars than I thought it was going to be and it was really difficult to stay close. Overall I felt it was a decent race. Really consistent and I was able to try and work on a few bits that I needed to. Happy with the result and there could have been more but we can always say that.”
“I think tomorrow I need to make the start a bit better, that’s the most obvious change. I can just send it a bit more and I know how the car can behave a bit better. We’ll see a bit more passing tomorrow.”
Abbi Pulling on impressive GB3 debut
Meanwhile, 2024 F1 Academy Champions, Abbi Pulling delivered a mature and confident drive to fifth on her GB3 debut, narrowly behind teammate Ninovic. Starting fourth, she attempted a bold move for the podium into Maggotts and Becketts but settled into fifth and focused on tyre management, knowing her strategy would play an important role across the weekend.
“Yeah a great debut. I tried to go for the podium at Maggotts and Becketts on the first lap, stuck my nose up the inside but dropped a position because of it,” she said, adding, “I gave it a go and it was a really fun race but dropping off a bit while managing my tyres, trying to be a bit strategic. I then caught up at the end but wasn’t quite enough.”
“Tyre management is huge, we only have two sets over the weekend and so we’re using set one, that we just used, in race three which is the reverse race as well, so if you looked after your tyres today you’ll be in a good position for the last one. There was a little bit of strategy in play there.”
Race 1 Provisional Result
- Freddie Slater, Hillspeed
- Noah Lisle, JHR Developments
- Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport
- Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport
- Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport
- Nikita Johnson, Hitech TGR
- Keanu Al Azhari, Hitech TGR
- Will Macintyre, Elite Motorsport
- Kai Daryanani, JHR Developments
- Dion Gowda, Xcel Motorsport
- Patrick Heuzenroeder, Xcel Motorsport
- Hiyu Yamakoshi, Hillspeed
- Kanato Le, Hillspeed
- Lucas Fluxa, Argenti with Prema
- Reza Seewooruthun, Xcel Motorsport
- Hugo Schwarze, VRD Racing
- Deagen Fairclough, Hitech TGR
- Jack Sherwood, Xcel Motorsport
- Enzo Tarnvanichkul, VRD Racing
- Yuanpu Cui, Argenti with Prema
- Flynn Jackes, Elite Motorsport
- Mika Abrahams, Fortec Motorsports
- Stefan Bostandjiev, Fortec Motorsports
- Divy Nandan, Chris Dittmann Racing
Slater dominant but fierce challengers loom
Slater’s victory was dominant, but the stories throughout the field showed the depth of competition in GB3’s new era. Lisle’s start, Pradel’s persistence, and Pulling’s debut underlined the variety of contenders, while Fairclough’s recovery from the pit lane hinted at his pace potential. With Slater again starting from pole for race two, the question is whether anyone can stop Hillspeed’s star driver from continuing his perfect start.
