Freddie Slater takes pole in short qualifying session at Spa
- Trisha Lynnette Nathan
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Written by Trisha Lynnette
It was a cloudy day at Spa-Francorchamps, the grid was set and umbrellas were up ahead of a wet-track qualifying session. Freddie Slater of Trident had attained the fastest lap in the practice session, making him the one to watch in this qualifying session.
With 30 minutes on the clock, the drivers moved on to the moist track, ready to set the first few flying laps and take a possible provisional pole. Louis Sharp of PREMA Racing set the early benchmark by taking provisional pole.
He was immediately beaten by Hiyu Yamakoshi of Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR). Tuukka Taponen of ART Grand Prix then moved up to provisional pole. Slater managed to go fastest, taking provisional pole ahead of his championship title contenders.
All the drivers started to enter the pits to fuel the car for the remaining time of the session. At the 17-minute mark, every car had pitted for fuel changes and whatever work was needed. The cars moved out at the 13-minute mark for the last few flying laps that would determine the order for the Feature Race.
Ugo Ugochukwu of Campos Racing stood at ninth, looking to improve and further his lead in the championship. He looked for a tow to have a cleaner, smoother flying lap. Yamakoshi moved through the pit lane for a self-administered drive-through to move to the back of the grid for a better track position.
Noah Strømsted of Trident moved into the back of Yamakoshi and the red flag was waved as the two cars came to a halt. Yevan David of AIX Racing was also involved in this multi-car collision and came to a halt. James Wharton and José Garfias of PREMA Racing also faced damage from the triple contact.
The three drivers exited their destroyed cars as the rest of the grid moved back onto the grid. The rain began to descend on the track as they waited for the green flag to be waved.
The pit exit was closed as the debris was cleared off the track. Ultimately, race control decided that qualifying would not be continued after the collision. This meant that Slater took pole position for the Feature Race on Sunday, followed by Taponen and Yamakoshi.
The Sprint Race takes place on Saturday at 10:00 CEST (09:00 BST), before the Feature Race rounds out the weekend on Sunday morning at 08:30 CEST (07:30 BST).
Be sure to tune in to each session live, and if you miss some of the action, return to DIVEBOMB or the official F3 channels for all the action from what is set to be another exciting instalment in the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship.
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