Trident’s Freddie Slater claimed back-to-back and a second F3 pole position during Qualifying at the 2026 Belgian GP, full report below.
Slater made a strong start to the sixth round of the 2026 F3 season, topping Free Practice with a 2:06.311. Behind the Briton, Théophile Naël and Maciej Gładysz rounded up the top three. However, with the pace to challenge for back-to-back pole positions, Slater looked poised to return to the top.
Time for Qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps!
The session got underway as dark clouds and rain hovered over the 7.004km circuit. As thirty minutes on the clock started to tick down, all drivers eagerly emerged from the pit lane.
Working against the weather to get a banker lap, the PREMA Racing trio were the first drivers across the line to set off on their first push-laps of the session. Setting the benchmark, Louis Sharp crossed the line with a 2:06.864. However, it was not long before he was displaced at the top.
Meanwhile, behind the PREMA trio, all drivers were lighting up the timings. Tuukka Taponen impressed with a quick first sector and went to the top with a 2:05.401. However, after setting the pace in Free Practice, Slater found his way back to the top with a 2:05.150.
Rain continues to fall
Although it continued to rain, all drivers appeared to be setting fast and competitive lap times. Bruno del Pino and Enzo Deligny were the first victims of track limits, as the Van Amersfoort Racing drivers had their lap times deleted.
Further down the field, replay showed Fionn McLaughlin running wide into the gravel traps heading to Pouhon. A common qualifying occurrence around Spa-Francorchamps saw a significant queue build up in the final sector. Jostling for position, the field were seen holding each other up.
Although some drivers continued on for another lap on the same set of tyres, most of the field returned to the pits. However, as it stood, Slater, Taponen, Hiyu Yamakoshi, Noah Strømsted and Ernesto Rivera rounded up the top five.
A multi-car pileup in the final sector
For Slater, the current situation presented an ideal scenario for him, with his main championship rivals Ugo Ugochukwu and Naël further down the field. Once again, with most drivers slowing down in the final sector, several cars were involved in a pileup, as Strømsted ran into the back of Yevan David. Still sitting in the top three, Yamakoshi was also involved in the incident. The incident subsequently brought out a red flag.
Although nine minutes remained on the clock, rain began to fall heavily around the circuit. Meanwhile, the stewards noted several incidents that they will investigate after the session. Race control then declared that the Qualifying session will not resume.
However, after an impressive lap on his first run, Slater managed to claim back-to-back pole positions, with Taponen and Yamakoshi rounding up the provisional top three.
