FIA explains Freddie Slater British GP DSQ after F3 practice breach

Formula 3 championship contender Freddie Slater encountered a bump in the road at the British GP, his home race, having been disqualified from the practice results.

Slater, the Audi F1 junior, had topped the sole F3 practice session at Silverstone, but found himself disqualified from the results post-session. The FIA confirmed that the minimum fuel sample could not be extracted from Slater’s Trident post-session, triggering the disqualification.

Freddie Slater loses British GP F3 practice P1

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Slater goes into his first F3 home race at Silverstone second in the championship, 16 points behind leader Ugo Ugochukwu.

Slater begun in ideal fashion, clocking a 1:46.161 to top the only, 45-minute practice session at Silverstone.

But, the Trident driver, and first signee to the Audi Driver Development Programme, was disqualified from the results due to an insufficient fuel sample.

Nonetheless, Slater made an important statement of intent with his initial P1 time ahead of qualifying. Slater responded magnificently to claim pole position for the Silverstone feature race.

The verdict from the FIA stewards reads as follows: “The Technical Delegate’s report indicated that they were unable to take the mandatory minimum fuel sample of 0.8kg from the car at the end of the practice session.

“It is to be noted that car 5 stopped on track after completing its practice start. The team representative acknowledged that the minimum required fuel sample of 0.8 kg could not be taken from the car at the end of the practice session.

“The team representative explained that this was due to the change in procedures during the running of the session, and that they had underestimated the fuel consumption required to run the session, VSC test and the practice start at the end of the session.

“Having considered the matter extensively, the stewards acknowledge that the breach was a consequence of misjudgement. Nevertheless, the stewards determine that the competitor failed to comply with the requirements of Article 6.3.1 of the FIA Formula 3 Technical Regulations and accordingly decide to disqualify Car 5 from the practice session.”

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Slater has scored four podium results in an impressive F3 rookie season thus far. P2s in the Melbourne feature race and Barcelona sprint serve as the 17-year-old’s best results.

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