Hillspeed’s Freddie Slater was the driver to beat as the GB3 Championship’s new era began in style at Silverstone on Saturday. 

The British driver, already a podium finisher in FIA F3 this year, claimed both pole positions on offer in the new two-part qualifying session this morning, obliterating the GB3 Championship lap record in the process. 

He then controlled the first race, immediately putting himself out of DRS range from his rivals by establishing a 1.8-second lead at the end of the first racing lap of the Tatuus MSV GB3-025 era. From there, he pulled away to win with an almost seven-second gap to Noah Lisle in second place.

Qualifying
GB3 has introduced a new two-part qualifying session for 2025, with the first 15-minute session deciding the race one grid, and the second session deciding the line-up for race two.

Slater was never usurped after going top of the first session, setting a 1m52.194s, already half a second quicker than the previous generation lap record, putting him 0.556s clear of the field, which was headed by Rodin’s Gianmarco Pradel. 

Lisle was third fastest ahead of Rodin’s reigning F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling, with her teammate Alex Ninovic and Hitech’s Nikita Johnson completing the top-six.

But it was the second session, with lower fuel levels and new tyres that saw Slater further demonstrate the potential of GB3’s new machinery,  delivering a 1m51.647s to go 1.1 seconds faster than the old lap record. 

He ended up 0.427s clear of the pack in session two, with Ninovic second this time around ahead of Lisle and Slater’s teammate Hiyu Yamakoshi. Pradel and Pulling completed the top-six in the second session.

Race one
Slater had to withstand a challenge from Lisle on lap one, as the pack of new cars blasted to Maggotts and Becketts. Lisle fancied putting his nose up the inside of Slater on the approach to the ultra quick left hander, but thought better of it.

From there, Slater romped away and with a 1.8 second lead at the end of the opening lap, was immediately out of DRS range. While Slater stretched his legs and won by 6.982s, Lisle had to fend off race-long attentions from Pradel, after passing him on the first lap. The pair were separated by half a second at the flag, with Ninovic also threatening to join in the fun and took fourth.

Pulling completed a Rodin 3-4-5 as she ended her first GB3 race in strong style, with Johnson the lead Hitech in sixth. His teammate Keanu Al Azhari went from 13th on the grid to seventh ahead of Elite’s Will Macintyre. 

The race marked GB3’s first use of the Drag Reduction System in a racing environment, and Deagen Fairclough used the system to good effect. After failing to get away at the start of the formation lap and starting from the pit lane as a result, the reigning British F4 champion charged through to 17th after a series of well executed manoeuvres. 

The second race of the weekend is due to commence at 10.02 on Sunday morning.

Race one winner Slater said: “It was great, obviously there was a risk of rain, as we were going up into Stowe there was a big cloud coming so I knew I had to keep building my margin for a bit of a cushion. Overall super positive, the team gave me a great car to go out there and do what I just did. The pace has been great today and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.

"We'll have the same plan for tomorrow, we’ll see what the track conditions are like in the morning and should be good fun.”

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Qualifying one top-six result:
1. Freddie Slater, Hillspeed, 1m52.194s
2. Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport, +0.556s
3. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, +0.588s
4. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +0.719s
5. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, +0.750s
6. Nikita Johnson, Hitech, +0.853s

Click here for full result

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Qualifying two top-six result:
1. Freddie Slater, Hillspeed, 1m51.647s
2. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, +0.427s
3. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, +0.752s
4. Hiyu Yamakoshi, Hillspeed, +0.920s
5. Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport, +0.933s
6. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +0.985s

Click here for full result

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, race one top-six result:
1. Freddie Slater, Hillspeed, 12 laps
2. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, +6.982s
3. Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport, +7.564s
4. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, +8.484s
5. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, +9.744s
6. Nikita Johnson, Hitech TGR, +16.156s

Click here for full result

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Drivers' standings after race one of 24:
1. Freddie Slater, Hillspeed, 35pts
2. Noah Lisle, JHR Developments, 29pts
3. Gianmarco Pradel, Rodin Motorsport, 24pts
4. Alex Ninovic, Rodin Motorsport, 21pts
5. Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport, 19pts
6. Nikita Johnson, Hitech TGR, 17pts

Click here for full standings

GB3 Championship, partnered by the BRDC, Teams' standings after race one of 24:
1. Rodin Motorsport, 45pts
2. Hillspeed, 44pts
3. JHR Developments, 41pts
4. Hitech TGR, 32pts
5. Xcel Motorsport, 21pts
6. Argenti with Prema, 13pts

Click here for full standings

For more championship information, visit www.gb-3.net.