Freddie Slater
Discussion
SpeckledJim said:
Winning all the time is a good sign, is it?
Maybe not for the ‘show’.But if you are aiming to show future employers (F1 team principals) that you are top prospect, then yes. As a young driver, you want your sponsors to think you are the next Lewis Hamilton, not the next Jolyon Palmer.
SpudLink said:
Maybe not for the ‘show’.
But if you are aiming to show future employers (F1 team principals) that you are top prospect, then yes. As a young driver, you want your sponsors to think you are the next Lewis Hamilton, not the next Jolyon Palmer.
I think he was merely mocking the expert youth driver spotter's technique. But if you are aiming to show future employers (F1 team principals) that you are top prospect, then yes. As a young driver, you want your sponsors to think you are the next Lewis Hamilton, not the next Jolyon Palmer.
It is an obvious indicator but if they read the op they would've seen it's also about the way they win. E.g. "that" wet race win at Silverstone in the F Renault is what instantly single out lewis for F1 greatness for me. It was long before he won nearly every race.
Freddie is proving his racecraft but the next step is to get in a series that shows speed - the ability to pull out a big lead, rather than GJ's which have a massive drafting factor.
But yeah, winning. He's now broken the record for most GJ wins and he still has 9 races to go.
Freddie is proving his racecraft but the next step is to get in a series that shows speed - the ability to pull out a big lead, rather than GJ's which have a massive drafting factor.
But yeah, winning. He's now broken the record for most GJ wins and he still has 9 races to go.
Edited by mattikake on Tuesday 20th June 18:05
Now KZ European Champion. First Brit in decades.
https://www.youtube.com/live/VTn5aW_IrYk?feature=s...
(3 hours in on stream)
https://www.youtube.com/live/VTn5aW_IrYk?feature=s...
(3 hours in on stream)
After he left the ginetta junior field for dead in the wet and set a new record for junior wins at cadwell, he's going to be in the F4 BTCC support race this weekend. Let's see how he gets on.
So he's just turned 15 and is now eligible to race formula cars.
Are these still manual or are they flappy paddle these days?
So he's just turned 15 and is now eligible to race formula cars.
Are these still manual or are they flappy paddle these days?
Edited by mattikake on Friday 25th August 13:13
VladD said:
SpudLink said:
mattikake said:
… he's going to be in the F4 BTCC support race this weekend. Let's see how he gets on.
Qualified P3. VladD said:
SpudLink said:
mattikake said:
… he's going to be in the F4 BTCC support race this weekend. Let's see how he gets on.
Qualified P3. there's absolutely zero magic in motor racing, particularly with drivers.
I have a friend whose son is also in Ginetta Juniors this year, ( and is the actual youngest in the championship), is reasonably well funded ( father is very wealthy) and has done a few years of karting with some decent success. However he'd never driven any type of car with a gearbox before the start of the season, and is limited on track time generally, I thought he'd struggle a bit and has done.
But, I'd put my last dollar on the fact the Freddie Slater has driven that car so much he's worn a groove in the track. I get that to be successful you have to practice your sport. So at the moment it's way to early to say - he's just the best funded and most practiced junior driver - today.
Will he still want it in 5 years, what happens when he comes up against drivers with more experience?
I wish him well but it's way too early.
I have a friend whose son is also in Ginetta Juniors this year, ( and is the actual youngest in the championship), is reasonably well funded ( father is very wealthy) and has done a few years of karting with some decent success. However he'd never driven any type of car with a gearbox before the start of the season, and is limited on track time generally, I thought he'd struggle a bit and has done.
But, I'd put my last dollar on the fact the Freddie Slater has driven that car so much he's worn a groove in the track. I get that to be successful you have to practice your sport. So at the moment it's way to early to say - he's just the best funded and most practiced junior driver - today.
Will he still want it in 5 years, what happens when he comes up against drivers with more experience?
I wish him well but it's way too early.
Late entry to the Italian F4 championship. Put it on pole. Racer later today.
https://www.youtube.com/live/GvhjdIKkz9g?si=M8cl7M...
https://www.youtube.com/live/GvhjdIKkz9g?si=M8cl7M...
Anyone following Freddie in the winter UAE F4 championship?
https://youtube.com/@formula4uaechampionship765?si...
Just finished watching race 5 (race 6 later this weekend). 2 wins, 3 podiums (1 from reverse grid) and a 4th (reverse grid). 30 point lead in the championship already and looking like the class of the field (although not perhaps round 1).
He's very Prost-like, consistent and often quietly picking up places and poaching other drivers clinically.
https://youtube.com/@formula4uaechampionship765?si...
Just finished watching race 5 (race 6 later this weekend). 2 wins, 3 podiums (1 from reverse grid) and a 4th (reverse grid). 30 point lead in the championship already and looking like the class of the field (although not perhaps round 1).
He's very Prost-like, consistent and often quietly picking up places and poaching other drivers clinically.
Interesting - I will keep an eye on him. It used to be lot easier spotting rising talent - I'd try and spot the potential stars in FF1600 and track them through FF2000 and British F3 . Saw Senna annihilate a FF1600 filed in 1981 and a very young Raikkonen shine in F Renault. Bloody hard now we have F4 and Jonathan Palmer's home brew series - and outside historics, that is your lot ...
Yay! Another championship in the bag.
It was very close though, not total domination, even though he was the outstanding driver in the field. He got caught up with his main rival in a racing incident squeezed into a wall (neither blamed) that resulted in a 0 score for the entire round 4 (3 races) with back of the grid starts as a result.
But still a championship winning steal for a position in the penultimate race recovered it.
It was very close though, not total domination, even though he was the outstanding driver in the field. He got caught up with his main rival in a racing incident squeezed into a wall (neither blamed) that resulted in a 0 score for the entire round 4 (3 races) with back of the grid starts as a result.
But still a championship winning steal for a position in the penultimate race recovered it.
Always interesting to see the up and coming talent but well worth avoiding attaching too much value to titles won or overall achievement at this stage. During my involvement with karting I saw many guys that were the next big thing. A handful made it, but far more often they didn't, and that includes multiple title winners.
Lewis Hamilton was the standout from that era and we all knew that he was someone special, but even then there was one that would regularly be right with Lewis. I'll always remember Niki Richardson. His talent was equally exceptional and he won the same titles that Lewis managed but never even got to race cars. Niki now works for Club100 karting and I believe he is also a driving instructor on the roads.
Another name that was winning everything and pinned to be the next great British hope with significant backing was Martin Plowman. He has forged a good career for himself and is a Le Mans class winner but never made it to F1. Oliver Rowland is a similar example now in Formula E.
Best of luck to Freddie Slater but he is barely over the first hurdle in reality. The acid test of his future potential will be the transition to a wings and slicks car where the reliance on downforce far outweighs the mechanical grip. So many talents don't make that jump with success and quickly fall by the wayside.
Lewis Hamilton was the standout from that era and we all knew that he was someone special, but even then there was one that would regularly be right with Lewis. I'll always remember Niki Richardson. His talent was equally exceptional and he won the same titles that Lewis managed but never even got to race cars. Niki now works for Club100 karting and I believe he is also a driving instructor on the roads.
Another name that was winning everything and pinned to be the next great British hope with significant backing was Martin Plowman. He has forged a good career for himself and is a Le Mans class winner but never made it to F1. Oliver Rowland is a similar example now in Formula E.
Best of luck to Freddie Slater but he is barely over the first hurdle in reality. The acid test of his future potential will be the transition to a wings and slicks car where the reliance on downforce far outweighs the mechanical grip. So many talents don't make that jump with success and quickly fall by the wayside.
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