F3: Home favourite Slater takes dramatic first pole position at Silverstone

Freddie Slater took his maiden Formula 3 pole position in a dramatic Silverstone qualifying.

The TRIDENT rookie left it late to complete a 1:45.620 to take P1 ahead of championship rival Théophile Nael, who finished second for Campos Racing.

Louis Sharp’s late improvement put the PREMA Racing driver in third ahead of the second Campos of Ernesto Rivera – fresh from his first F3 victory at the Sprint Race in Austria.

McLaren Development Driver Programme member Matteo De Palo had his best qualifying result of the year, as he finished in fifth for TRIDENT, with Red Bull junior Fionn McLaughlin in sixth for Hitech.

Noah Stromsted made it three TRIDENT cars in the top seven, with ART Grand Prix rookie Maciej Gladysz in P8.

James Wharton finished ninth for PREMA, ahead of Williams Driver Academy member Alessandro Giusti in P10 for MP Motorsport, ahead of AIX Racing’s Yevan David.

Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu rounded out the top 12, meaning the Campos driver will start Saturday’s Sprint Race – which is set to start at 09:35 local time – from reverse grid pole.

Until then you can read a full report from today’s FIA Formula 3 Qualifying session at Silverstone on the official website here.