"We didn't really get the fight we wanted": Freddie Slater reflects on his 2026 campaign

Freddie Slater admitted he was left gutted after failing to fight for the Formula 3 title in the way he had wanted in Madrid, yet he was quick to pay tribute to rival Ugo Ugochukwu, Campos Racing and his own team, TRIDENT.

A Title Bid Unravelled by Car Troubles

Ugochukwu, meanwhile, put his car fourth and second — and on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult, Slater could do little to recover across all three races.

The pair were level on points heading into Sunday's final Feature Race. With Ugochukwu crossing the line second and Slater down in seventh, the American wrapped up the title. For a deeper breakdown of how that pivotal swing played out, our analysis of Ugochukwu's title-winning comeback examines how the deficit was overturned.

Reflecting on the outcome, Slater was candid: "Obviously a little bit gutted with the end result, but fundamentally we had too many things go wrong. The Feature Race in Monza, that was the start of it, and then this weekend in qualifying we had too many issues."

"On a track like this it's very difficult to overtake as well, so when you're at the back or in the mid-pack it's always going to be difficult. To be fair, fair play to Ugo and Campos, they had a good weekend," he continued. "But we didn't really get the fight we wanted with the issues we had but overall it doesn't detract from the season we've had."

A Season to Remember Despite the Title Slip

The maths told the story of a strong year regardless of the final twist. Slater ended the campaign with one win, three pole positions and eight podiums in total, and despite the title slipping away, he views the campaign with genuine positivity.

"I think as a rookie, trying to gain the experience and get on level with the second-year drivers as quick as I could has been really well managed," he said. "The pace has been incredible all year, very consistent, and executed all the time. Unfortunately there's some variables that went the wrong way out of our control, and those affect the results."

The timing of those setbacks proved especially cruel. "They came at the worst possible time if I'm honest, because obviously there's no time now to catch up, it's over. So a little bit gutted the way we couldn't really finish the job off and really fight for it," he admitted, before paying tribute to his squad: "But it doesn't take away what we've done all year. We've done an amazing job, and I couldn't have done that without my team, TRIDENT. So a massive thank you to them."

Eyes on Formula 2

Slater's 2027 plans are already locked in, with the Briton set to step up to FIA Formula 2 with Invicta Racing. With his future confirmed, his focus now is on preparing for the challenges ahead as he looks to build on his remarkable campaign.

"We've still been fighting for another championship," he said. "It's another year done and another championship nearly won. So it's been an impressive career so far."

Looking forward, he added: "But now there's some exciting things hopefully to come in the future. Still a steep hill to climb, that's for sure. So I need to continue to keep pushing and try and develop into a better driver, that's the aim of the game."

"So we're going to have a nice off-season, mostly with friends and family, and relax a little bit. But also get ready for next year to see what that holds," he concluded.