MEXICO CITY – Freddie Slater noticed the brilliant facet from an finally irritating Formulation 1 debut with Audi in Mexico Metropolis, however conveyed his satisfaction at making historical past for the German marque.
The British teenager was handed a dream first outing in an F1 automobile on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez final Friday, as one in all 10 rookies collaborating in FP1.
It capped off a exceptional yr for Slater, who narrowly missed out on the Formulation 3 title in his first try, and because of this has been given a golden alternative in Formulation 2 with Invicta subsequent season.
Slater had already made historical past by being the Audi squad‘s first junior programme signing, and furthered that by entering into 2026 F1 equipment in Mexico, having accomplished only one TPC check previous to the weekend earlier in the summertime.
However it was a gutting afternoon in lots of respects, as Slater was compelled to desert a lot of the session after mechanics left a cooling fan on the facet of the automobile as he went out on his first run.
It broken the R26 to an extent that Slater missed a lot of the session, and likewise costing the group €7,500 from the FIA.
Nevertheless, the 18-year-old was capable of full two late push runs, however the delay condemned him to ending the session backside of the pile.
Chatting with media, together with Motorsport Week, after FP2, Slater was philosophical in regards to the error from the group, taking the very best bits from a “actually historic day”.
“Yeah, for positive [it’s frustrating], however on the finish of the day, it’s motorsport, and that’s how issues go,” he mentioned.
“We’re a group and we win as a group and we lose as a group, so after all it was a bit irritating clearly to not get many, many laps.
“However general, that one lap that I did do was really fairly good in comparison with related information, and a very historic day for Audi to have their first junior driver within the automobile – it’s a really special occasion, so we take a look at the positives after which we concentrate on the outcomes.”
Slater admits ‘depth’ of Audi F1 expertise in Mexico
Given his present junior expertise, and the distinctive altitude ranges, the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit would have been, in some respects, a baptism of fireplace for Slater as a observe on which to make his F1 debut.
Together with his first F2 outings but to happen, Slater acknowledged the ‘depth’ of leaping from F3 to F1 along with his singular TPC outing and simulator work his solely reference factors.
“[The circuit is] Positively an outlier, the automobile feels very bizarre,” he admitted. “Clearly not a whole lot of aero load due to the altitudes, but in addition with these vehicles, with how the battery works, the quantity of increase that you simply get off the nook is unbelievable.
“So, clearly in comparison with F3 – I haven’t even pushed an F2 automobile but – an enormous step from F3 vehicles, so yeah it’s fairly intense, however I actually loved these couple of laps that I acquired.
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