Freddie Slater was content with a point from the 2026 F3 Budapest Sprint Race, as he felt he maximised what was possible from P11.
The TRIDENT rookie finished on track in P11, however, as Ugo Ugochukwu received a 5 second time penalty during the race, it then promoted Slater to P10, bringing himself level on points with championship rival Ugochukwu.
However, rather than focusing on the championship standings, Slater was more concerned with the performance he and the team had delivered during the race.
“I don’t really care to be honest about the gap or anything. I think we had a good race overall, I think it was a positive race in terms of tyre management and pace. It was very tricky obviously with Ugo having the five-second penalty. He came up with some interesting tactics, let’s say, but I know it’s part of the game.
“I’m maximising the job I need to do. I know where I’m starting, and for me it’s just about maximising the result, taking the right risk for the right reward.
“Having a clean race and maximising my opportunities and the potential in what I have on track at that point. Honestly, I think there’s a lot of people looking at us and we’re not looking at anyone else. It’s quite a nice place to be in.
“It seems like other people are under a lot of pressure. I’m in my rookie season having fun like always and full steam ahead.”
A conservative approach in the Sprint
Starting from P11, Slater took a conservative approach in the early stages of the F3 Budapest Sprint race as he looked to protect his tyres.
The decision appeared to pay off later in the race, with the Briton and Feature Race Pole-sitter Tuukka Taponen both making progress through the field.
“Generally a pretty good race and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. Tuukka and I were pretty much on similar strategies as each other. We kind of had the same plan and obviously the guys at the front decided to go, and you saw what happened to them at the end, they were in big trouble.
“So I think with a longer race tomorrow it could be even more interesting. Unfortunately, when I got to the pack there was chaos, and there were just no opportunities in T1, T2 and then once you get passed in T2 you can’t overtake until you get to the start and finish line again.
“It was always pretty difficult in that situation, but we stayed out of trouble and still brought a point home which is always key to maximise the job.”
The charge from the front row in the Feature
Slater will start Sunday’s Feature Race from the front row as he continues his search for his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory.
The TRIDENT driver has regularly featured on the Feature Race podium this season, but after the Sprint Race, he knows there is still work to do to improve the team’s race pace.
He says that he will be taking the learnings of the Sprint Race and aiming to use those to full effect come lights out on Sunday.
“I think it’s just about me trying to maximise what I have in the car at that point in the day. I’m honestly really proud of myself because I drove a near perfect race.
“There wouldn’t be much I would change from my side in terms of driving technique or anything like that.
“But we need to try and adjust a few things to try and help our race pace because for sure we’re not as good on race pace as others, and I think we need to understand this as a team. But I’ve got full trust in TRIDENT.
“We’re going to put a lot of effort in tonight to see what we can do for tomorrow and also try and make our lives a bit easier for the future rounds.
“I think just a clean start, it’s a long race tomorrow again and we’ll see what the tyres do, which we have a bit of experience with now with the knowledge that we gained today. Hopefully it’s going to be a nice clean race for everyone, keep it sensible and see what happens at the end.”
