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Freddie Slater, the 18-year-old racing driver born in Stratford-upon-Avon, drove a Formula 1 car at a Grand Prix weekend for the first time on Friday 30 October 2026. He took Audi’s car out for the first practice session of the Mexico City Grand Prix. Audi announced the outing on 22 October. He gets a second run in first practice at the São Paulo Grand Prix next Friday, 6 November.
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How Freddie Slater got on in Mexico
Slater finished the hour-long session (6.30pm to 7.30pm UK time) 21st of 22. His best lap was a 1:20.945, 2.817 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc’s fastest time of 1:18.128 for Ferrari, according to the official classification. He completed 14 laps. Several regular drivers did twice that, and Crash.net’s live coverage reported that he spent a long time in the garage after his first few laps. His Audi team-mate for the session, Nico Hülkenberg, was 13th.
Practice times rarely tell the whole story, especially for a driver on his first outing who is working through the team’s test programme. He was one of several young drivers given practice runs on Friday. For a teenager from Stratford, simply being on that timesheet alongside Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso is the achievement.
Who is Freddie Slater?
Slater was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on 9 August 2008. He grew up in nearby Henley-in-Arden, and the Stratford Observer calls him “originally from Stratford-Upon-Avon”. He started karting as a young child and won the junior karting world championship in 2020. After that he won almost everything he entered on the way up, according to his Formula 3 profile:
- 2023: Ginetta Junior champion.
- 2024: champion in both Formula 4 UAE and Italian F4.
- 2025: Formula Regional European champion, and a podium on his Formula 3 debut in Bahrain.
- 2026: runner-up in his first full Formula 3 season with Trident, on 145 points.
In January he became the first driver signed to Audi’s Driver Development Programme. Next year he moves up to Formula 2, the last step below F1, with Invicta Racing.
What he said about his F1 debut
“Getting behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car at a Grand Prix weekend is a big moment for me and something I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid,” Slater said when Audi announced the runs. Allan McNish, Audi’s racing director, said it was “the right time for Freddie to step up”, and that the two sessions would give him “valuable experience of a Formula 1 race weekend” before Formula 2.
Practice runs like these are how F1 teams test their young drivers. They don’t mean a race seat: Slater drives in the first session and then hands the car back to the team’s race driver for the rest of the weekend.
When to watch him in São Paulo
First practice at the São Paulo Grand Prix runs from 3.30pm to 4.30pm UK time on Friday 6 November. The Mexico City Grand Prix itself starts at 8pm UK time on Sunday 1 November.
He isn’t the only F1 name with a local link: earlier this month we reported on Pierre Gasly sponsoring Shottery United. If you’d rather see racing cars up close, the British Motor Museum at Gaydon is a short drive from Stratford.
Alex Harrington
Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.
